Retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) says President Trump offered him, and he declined, the U.S. ambassadorship to Australia, lending some credence to a report Monday in the The Australian Financial Review that Trump was considering a high-profile senator to assuage the bruised feelings in Canberra that Trump had switched his nominee for ambassador to Australia, Adm. Harry Harris, to the South Korea portfolio. Along with Corker, the Financial Review named Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) as possible consolation prizes.
"I had a number of conversations with both President Trump and (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo," Corker told The Tennessean. "At the end of the day though ... it just felt like it wasn't the right step." Hatch said through a spokesman that he isn't interested, either. The 84-year-old senator is looking forward to "a well-deserved retirement filled with early bird specials at all-you-can-eat buffets and long walks through Costco," Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock said Tuesday. That leaves Flake — though given his frosty relationship with Trump, it seems unlikely Trump would offer him such a plum job.
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