Romney 'would have accepted' Secretary of State post under Trump

Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney has revealed that he was serious enough about becoming President Donald Trump's Secretary of State and that he spoke to Hillary Clinton about the post, who encouraged him to take it.

Romney had earlier also mentioned that he spoke with Clinton, during the time he was being considered for the top diplomat job.

"I spoke with virtually all the former secretaries of state," CNN reported Romney, as saying here at the Experts and Enthusiasts, or E2, Summit, which brings together high-profile Republicans who are close to Romney.

"I spoke with Secretary Clinton, and in each case, each of them said, 'Please, please take that job,' if it's offered to you. We would very much like to see you serve in that capacity."

Clinton was Secretary of State during President Barack Obama's first term and lost to Trump in the 2016 election.

The former Massachusetts governor and Republican Presidential nominee said that he was "shocked" to receive the invitation to be considered in the first place.

Romney recalled receiving a call out of the blue from vice-president-elect Mike Pence when Romney was golfing in Hawaii, asking if he'd like to be considered.

"I would have accepted the job had he asked me to do it," he said.

But he added that he felt the eventual choice, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, better meshed with Trump's foreign policy views: "I probably was not the right person to have the job -- in part because of how far apart we were."

"We saw things very differently on the foreign policy front," Romney said.