“You have never, ever in your career seen a serious adult who’s wealthy, independent, has been a presidential nominee, suck up at the rate that Mitt Romney is sucking up.”

— Newt Gingrich, quoted by the Daily Beast.

Chris Cillizza: “The terrific answer is that Romney still feels a call to public service. That the same motivation that drove him to run for governor or take over the failing Salt Lake City Winter Olympics or even run for president — a desire to make things better and a belief he can do so — is what compels him to make nice with someone that, from a personal perspective, he clearly holds in utter contempt. Under this theory, Romney believes the best way to preserve his vision for the country and its role in the world — and protect those things from potentially harmful decisions by Trump — is to insert himself between the president-elect and the world. That only by going into the Trump administration can he keep really bad things from happening.”

“The terrible answer for Romney is that this willingness to subjugate his personal views about Trump is all in service of an overarching ambition for power that has defined his life. Romney critics — and those are the people pushing this theory — point to his past flip-flops on such issues as abortion and gay marriage as evidence that when a deeply held belief comes up against Romney’s ambition, ambition always wins. So, Romney wants to be secretary of state more than he hates Trump. It’s that simple a calculation.”

Washington Post: “Romney plans to have a private dinner Tuesday with Trump, who is said to be intrigued by the notion of reconciling with one of his fiercest Republican antagonists — even as he also weighs rewarding the loyalty of former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani with one of the administration’s most prized jobs or selecting a decorated military officer in David H. Petraeus.”

“Trump is looking for assurances that Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who has championed a muscular and at times interventionist foreign policy, could be trusted to defend and promote Trump’s markedly different worldview in capitals around the globe, the people familiar with the president-elect’s deliberations said.”

“Donald Trump is meeting with Mitt Romney again on Tuesday, amid an ongoing brawl within his inner circle about the 2012 GOP nominee’s suitability to be secretary of State,” The Hill reports.

“Along with Romney, whose meeting was revealed in a transition team conference call on Monday morning, the president-elect will be meeting with other contenders for the high profile post.”

Donald Trump’s transition team wants Mitt Romney to publicly apologize for railing against the president-elect during the campaign if he hopes to become the next Secretary of State, Fox News reports.

“It has been a tough couple of days for Mitt Romney. After the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP nominee met with President-elect Donald Trump, it was rumored — and then stated explicitly by Vice President-elect Mike Pence — that Romney was being considered for Secretary of State,” Politico reports.

“And it’s been all downhill from there, as Trump supporters and surrogates have piled on, slamming Romney for his attacks on Trump during the GOP primary and his refusal to endorse Trump. Now Kellyanne Conway, a senior transition adviser and Trump’s campaign manager, has joined the fray.”

First Read: “Mike Flynn, Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions — none of these are surprises. They were either top figures on the campaign or key surrogates. A surprise would be Mitt Romney, who will be visiting with Trump over the weekend and who reportedly is being considered for secretary of state. If he’s offered State, can a patriotic citizen really say no? But if Romney says yes, he then owns Trump, and his confirmation hearing (frankly any State confirmation hearing) is going to get bogged down with questions about Flynn. So joining a Trump admin comes with a little something extra.”

“But can Romney say no? Does he risk looking small, looking like he won’t put country above politics? And many a Trump skeptic might rationalize that it’s better to keep an eye on his team from the inside than worrying and catcalling from the outside. Bottom line: Who knows if this Romney to State idea is real or just a ruse. But if he’s offered, it’s a complicated decision, made more complicated due to Flynn’s appointment.”

Rick Klein: “Trump is talking to Mitt Romney about becoming Secretary of State seems like a blatant attempt to use Romney now – in the transition period – and not use him later. Trump’s disdain for Romney is matched by Romney’s for Trump; these are not rivals, they are political enemies whose worldviews on matter foreign and domestic are starkly and often completely different.”