Rudy Giuliani is the frontrunner to be the next secretary of state

Rudy Giuliani is the next secretary of state?

(Image credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 15 November 2016

Donald Trump is close to naming the key post of secretary of state in his upcoming administration, and the leading candidate is former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, unidentified people familiar with Trump's thinking tell multiple news organizations. A senior Trump official tells The Associated Press that the job is Giuliani's to turn down, even though the former mayor and federal prosecutor has little foreign policy experience, but hawkish former United Nations ambassador John Bolton is reportedly being considered, too. Officials tell The Wall Street Journal that Trump may not decide for weeks, and other candidates may emerge.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is visiting Trump Tower on Tuesday to go through names for a Trump administration. Another cabinet position being floated is Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for defense secretary. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Megyn Kelly on Monday night that he would like to oversee policy and government reform in the Trump administration and that he has no inside knowledge to disclose about Trump's cabinet picks but that when it comes to secretary of state, "if Rudy wants it, he'll get it." Gingrich said that Giuliani is a proven manager and while he would have thought Giuliani would have preferred attorney general or homeland security secretary, "he's already known worldwide" and would therefore make a good secretary of state.

Watch Gingrich discuss Trump's picks and defend Trump's reported desire to get his kids top-secret security clearance in the video below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.