Mitt Romney

===Relationship with Donald Trump===
As the presidential election went into primary season, Romney had not endorsed anyone but was one of the Republican establishment figures who were becoming increasingly concerned about the front-runner status of New York businessman [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="nyt-desperate">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227143425/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party.html |archive-date=February 27, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |first1=Alexander |last1=Burns |first2=Maggie |last2=Haberman |author-link2=Maggie Haberman |first3=Jonathan |last3=Martin |title=Inside the Republican Party's Desperate Mission to Stop Donald Trump |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 27, 2016}}</ref> Romney publicly criticized Trump for not releasing his taxes, saying there might be a "bombshell" in them.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/romney-stands-by-trump-tax-criticism-though-offers-no-proof |title=Romney stands by Trump tax criticism, though offers no proof |first=Kelly |last=Vlahos |publisher=[[Fox News]]|date=February 25, 2016}}</ref> Trump responded by calling Romney "one of the dumbest and worst candidates in the history of Republican politics".<ref name="nyt-desperate" /> In a [[Mitt Romney's 2016 anti-Trump speech|March 3, 2016]] speech at the [[Hinckley Institute of Politics]], Romney made a scathing attack on Trump's personal behavior, business performance, and domestic and foreign policy stances. He said Trump was "a phony, a fraud ... He's playing members of the American public for suckers" and that "if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mitt-romney-frying-donald-trump-163100449.html|title=Mitt Romney fried Donald Trump in an epic speech|agency=[[Business Insider]]|publisher=[[Yahoo! Finance]]|date=March 3, 2016|first=Allan|last=Smith|access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Romneyslam">{{cite news|last1=O'Keefe|first1=Ed|title=Mitt Romney slams 'phony' Trump: He's playing 'the American public for suckers'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/03/mitt-romney-trump-is-a-phony-a-fraud-who-is-playing-the-american-public-for-suckers/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=March 3, 2016|access-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref> In response, Trump dismissed Romney as a "choke artist".<ref name="Romneyslam" /> Romney's speech represented an unprecedented attack by a major U.S. party's most recent presidential nominee against the party's current front-runner for the nomination.<ref name="Romneyslam" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/politics/donald-trump-mitt-romney-republican-party/  |title=GOP at war with itself |first=Stephen |last=Collinson |work=[[CNN]]|date=March 5, 2016 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Benen |author-link=Steve Benen |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mitt-romney-picks-side-sort |title=Mitt Romney picks a side (sort of)|website=[[MSNBC]]|access-date=March 28, 2016 |date=March 21, 2016}}</ref>
[[File:President Trump Hosts a Listening Session (49118848461) (cropped).jpg|thumb|250x250px|Romney with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Donald Trump]] during a White House listening session on the youth vaping and electronic cigarette epidemic in 2019.]]
Romney encouraged Republicans to engage in [[tactical voting]], by supporting whichever of the remaining rivals had the best chance to beat Trump in any given state.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-idUKKCN0W50FF |title=Republican Romney calls Trump 'a fraud,' creates pathway to contested convention |first=Steve |last=Holland |work=[[Reuters]]|date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref> As such, Romney announced he was voting for, although not endorsing, [[Ted Cruz]] for president in the [[United States presidential election in Utah, 2016|March 22 Utah caucus]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/18/politics/mitt-romney-ted-cruz-utah/ |title=Mitt Romney to vote for Ted Cruz in Utah |first=Theodore |last=Schleifer |work=[[CNN]]|date=March 19, 2016}}</ref> As the race went on, there was some evidence that tactical voting was occurring, and some partial arrangements were formed among candidates,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/4255838/donald-trump-marco-rubio-john-kasich/ |access-date=February 7, 2020 |title=Marco Rubio Says Ohio Should Vote Kasich to Stop Trump|first=Alex|last=Altman|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=March 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/04/25/475607754/the-cruz-kasich-deal-will-their-alliance-against-trump-work |access-date=February 7, 2020 |title=The Cruz-Kasich Deal: Will Their Alliance Against Trump Work? |first=Scott |last=Detrow |work=[[NPR]] |date=April 25, 2016}}</ref> but by May 3, Trump had defeated all his opponents and became the party's presumptive nominee. Romney announced that he would not support Trump in the general election, saying, "I am dismayed at where we are now. I wish we had better choices."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/mitt-romney-donald-trump-222881 |title=Romney says he won't back Trump |first=Hanna |last=Trudo |work=[[Politico]] |date=May 6, 2016 |access-date=February 6, 2020 }}</ref>

In June, Romney said that he would not vote for Democratic nominee [[Hillary Clinton]], saying: "It's a matter of personal conscience. I can't vote for either of those two people." He suggested that he might vote for a third-party candidate, or [[Write-in candidate|write in]] his wife's name, saying she would be "an ideal president". When pressed on which of Trump and Clinton was more qualified to be president, Romney quoted [[P. J. O'Rourke]]: "Hillary Clinton is wrong on every issue, but she's wrong within the normal parameters."<ref name="consciencewont">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/mitt-romney-my-conscience-wont-allow-me-to-vote-for-donald-trump-or-hillary-clinton/489473/|title=Mitt Romney: My Conscience Won't Allow Me to Vote for Trump or Clinton|author=Conor Friedersdorf|publisher=[[The Atlantic]]|date=June 29, 2016|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref>

Romney considered voting for the Libertarian ticket of former Republican governors [[Gary Johnson]] and [[Bill Weld]] (the latter, like Romney, also a former governor of Massachusetts), saying that he would "get to know Gary Johnson better and see if he's someone who I could end up voting for", adding that "if Bill Weld were at the top of the ticket, it would be very easy for me to vote for Bill Weld for president."<ref name=trickledown/> In September, he called for Johnson to be included in the [[United States presidential election debates, 2016|presidential debates]]<ref name=trickledown>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/10/politics/mitt-romney-donald-trump-racism/ |title=Mitt Romney says Donald Trump will change America with 'trickle-down racism'|first=Theodore |last=Schleifer |work=[[CNN]]|date=June 11, 2016|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> and in October it emerged that Independent candidate [[Evan McMullin]] was using an email list of 2.5 million Romney supporters to raise money.<ref name="evanusing">{{cite web|url=https://www.deseret.com/2016/10/3/20597461/independent-presidential-candidate-evan-mcmullin-using-mitt-romney-email-list-to-raise-money |title=Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin using Mitt Romney email list to raise money |first=Lisa Riley |last=Roche |work=[[Deseret News]]|date=October 3, 2016|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> McMullin's chief strategist said that it was purchased from Romney for President and that "we'll let other folks discuss what that may mean and certainly never speak for [Romney]."<ref name="evanusing" /> A spokeswoman for Romney said that the list had been "rented by several political candidates in the presidential primary, and by countless other political and commercial users in the time since the 2012 campaign"<ref name="evanusing" /> and Romney made no public comment on McMullin's candidacy.<ref name="romneycast">{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-has-cast-his-ballot-but-hasnt-revealed-whom-he-voted-for-2016-11 |title=Mitt Romney has cast his ballot – but hasn't revealed whom he voted for|author=Mark Abadi|publisher=[[Business Insider]] UK|date=November 2, 2016|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> Romney and his wife cast early ballots in Utah, but he declined to say who he voted for.<ref name="romneycast" /> In May 2018, Romney revealed that he had cast a write-in vote for his wife Ann.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900020076/mitt-romney-reveals-his-2016-presidential-vote.html|title=Mitt Romney reveals his 2016 presidential vote|author=Dennis Romboy|publisher=[[Deseret News]]|date=May 30, 2018|access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref>

After Trump won the election, Romney congratulated him by phone and on Twitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/11/13/mitt-romney-called-to-congratulate-donald-trump-on-his-election-night-win|title=Mitt Romney called to congratulate Donald Trump on his election night win|author=Nik DeCosta-Klipa|publisher=Boston.com|date=November 13, 2016|access-date=November 13, 2016}}</ref> On November 19, Romney met with him at the [[Trump National Golf Club (Bedminster, New Jersey)|Trump National Golf Club]] in [[Bedminster, New Jersey]], reportedly to discuss the position of [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-romney-meet-for-far-reaching-conversation-after-lobbing-shots-during-campaign |title=Trump meets with Romney, secretary of state job to potentially be discussed|date=November 19, 2016|newspaper=[[Fox News]]|language=en-US|access-date=November 19, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/us/politics/donald-trump-mitt-romney-secretary-state.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120001231/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/us/politics/donald-trump-mitt-romney-secretary-state.html |archive-date=November 20, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020 |title=Trump Meets with Romney as He Starts to Look Outside His Inner Circle |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 19, 2016 |author1=Michael S. Schmidt |author2=Julie Hirschfeld|author1-link=Michael S. Schmidt }}</ref> which ultimately went to [[Rex Tillerson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-trump.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213033742/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/politics/rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-trump.html |archive-date=December 13, 2016 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Rex Tillerson, Exxon C.E.O., Chosen as Secretary of State|author1=Michael D. Shear |author2=Maggie Haberman|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 12, 2016|access-date=January 2, 2017}}</ref> In February 2017, Romney said that Trump was "off to a very strong start" in fulfilling his campaign promises, although he had "no regrets" about his anti-Trump speech.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chasmar|first1=Jessica|title=Mitt Romney: Donald Trump 'off to a very strong start' |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/6/mitt-romney-trump-off-to-a-very-strong-start/ |access-date=February 6, 2017|work=The Washington Times|date=February 6, 2017}}</ref> The next year, Trump endorsed Romney's 2018 senate campaign.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Watkins|first1=Eli|title=Trump endorses Mitt Romney for Senate|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/19/politics/mitt-romney-donald-trump-utah/index.html|access-date=February 20, 2018|work=[[CNN]]|date=February 19, 2018}}</ref>