washington<u+2014>former new york mayor rudy giuliani is the leading candidate to be president-elect donald trump<u+2019>s nominee for secretary of state, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would elevate a well-known national figure to become the u.s.<u+2019>s chief diplomat. mr. trump<u+2019>s aides have also considered former u.s. ambassador to the united nations john bolton as a possible candidate, but the close relationship between messrs. giuliani and trump was a major consideration, the people said. asked at the wall street journal ceo council meeting in washington on monday evening if his title would soon be <u+201c>secretary,<u+201d> mr. giuliani responded, <u+201c>one never knows.<u+201d> mr. giuliani also said that mr. bolton would be a good choice for secretary of state. he was then asked if there was a better choice than mr. bolton and he replied, <u+201c>maybe me, i don<u+2019>t know.<u+201d> for mr. trump, it is a choice between a longtime friend and ally in new york, mr. giuliani, and a hawkish conservative diplomat, mr. bolton, who called last year for the u.s. to bomb iran. a final decision could be several weeks away, these people said, and other candidates could still emerge. deliberations over personnel in the new administration are expected to quicken on tuesday when the transition team<u+2019>s newly installed chairman, vice president-elect mike pence, arrives at mr. trump<u+2019>s new york headquarters. mr. pence, the governor of indiana, spent monday in florida, where he was the keynote speaker for the republican governors association. mr. pence also will continue his outreach to the washington establishment later in the week when he meets with vice president joe biden and others on capitol hill, said marc short, a spokesman for mr. pence. mr. bolton and trump campaign spokeswoman hope hicks declined to comment. mr. giuliani didn<u+2019>t respond to requests seeking comment that were submitted to the transition team. after spending most of the past week in meetings, the president-elect could travel later in the week to thank supporters for his victory, campaign manager kellyanne conway said on monday. she also said there could be more <u+201c>clarity on the senior team and the cabinet<u+201d> in the near future. mr. trump<u+2019>s pick for the state department will be integral to his effort to reshape u.s. foreign policy. he has called for an overhaul of the way the u.s. interacts with allies and adversaries, arguing that other north atlantic treaty organization nations should shoulder more of the world<u+2019>s burdens and the white house should forge a new relationship with russia to resolve tensions in the middle east. president barack obama on monday warned of a potential backlash from u.s. allies if mr. trump tries to undo some of his top foreign-policy achievements, specifically the deal to restrain iran<u+2019>s nuclear program and an international climate-change agreement. mr. obama said backing out of the iran nuclear deal could force the u.s. to adopt sanctions against its allies in europe, as well as russia and china, because they are part of the agreement. retreating on the climate-change deal could alienate the u.s. from more than 200 nations that signed onto it to cut co 2 emissions, he said. mr. obama, who left for europe on monday, is expected to tell many of those leaders that he hopes mr. trump will abide by those agreements. <u+201c>it becomes more difficult, i think, to undo something that<u+2019>s working than to undo something that isn<u+2019>t working,<u+201d> mr. obama said at a press conference. mr. trump has given no indication that he is going to change his opposition to both deals. the president-elect is taking steps to build relationships with numerous foreign leaders. on monday, he spoke with russian president vladimir putin, and <u+201c>the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the threats and challenges facing the united states and russia,<u+201d> the transition team said. the statement from the trump transition team said mr. trump <u+201c>noted to president putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with russia and the people of russia.<u+201d> democrats had assailed mr. trump<u+2019>s openness to work with russia during the campaign, and they accused mr. putin of using a cyberattack campaign to discredit democratic nominee hillary clinton with voters. the russian government denied involvement, although u.s. intelligence agencies concluded russia was responsible. mr. trump<u+2019>s pick for state department will have to navigate a u.s.<u+2013>russia relationship that is fraught with complexities, particularly over how to resolve the syrian conflict. mr. bolton has emerged one of the most hawkish members of the republican party in recent decades, a position that puts him at odds with mr. trump<u+2019>s call for the u.s. to pull back from foreign intervention. mr. bolton has publicly called for the bombing of iran<u+2019>s nuclear sites and vehemently opposes the nuclear agreement forged between the global powers and tehran last year. he is also staunchly against any negotiations with north korea over nuclear weapons, arguing such engagement is giving in to pyongyang<u+2019>s blackmail. mr. obama<u+2019>s energy secretary ernest moniz, meanwhile, said on the sidelines of a u.n. climate conference in morocco that the u.s. would find itself isolated internationally if the incoming trump administration decides to scrap the iran nuclear deal, adding other world powers wouldn<u+2019>t follow washington<u+2019>s lead. <u+2014>carol e. lee, michael c. bender and amy harder contributed to this article. corrections & amplifications: energy secretary ernest moniz<u+2019>s first name was incorrectly given as earnest in an earlier version of this article. (nov. 14, 2016) write to damian paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com and jay solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com
rudy giuliani seen as top pick for secretary of state   - wsj
damian paletta jay solomon