Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is President-elect Donald Trump's top pick to serve as secretary of state, a senior Trump official told the Associated Press on Tuesday, November 15.
The official told the AP that "there was no real competition for the job," but a second official said that former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton is also in contention for the role as the nation's highest diplomat.
Bolton, 67, has been an avid supporter of Trump's throughout the 2016 presidential election. Last year, he wrote an op-ed calling for the U.S. to bomb Iran.
Giuliani, 72, was asked at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event in Washington on Monday, November 14, if he planned on becoming secretary of state, but he simply responded, "One never knows."
He also stated during the meeting that defeating ISIS is Trump's first foreign policy priority but, like Trump, did not divulge further details on the plan.
Earlier in the day, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Fox News: "If Rudy wants it, he'll get it."
Giuliani has been a longtime friend and fierce ally of Trump's, often traveling with the POTUS-elect, 70, on the campaign trail to rallies and events. The former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York is known for his strict "law and order" policies, but has little foreign policy experience. He famously led NYC in the days, weeks, months and years after the 9/11 attacks.
John Kerry is the current secretary of state. He was preceded most recently by Hillary Clinton, who was Trump's rival during the bitter 2016 election season, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.