Story highlights
The lunch had been scheduled two weeks before
Christie said SUnday he wasn't interested in a job
It’s just lunch.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joined President Donald Trump for a White House a midday meal Tuesday less than 24 hours after national security adviser Michael Flynn was asked to resign after misleading Vice President Mike Pence.
But the juxtaposition was circumstance: The lunch had been scheduled two weeks before, an administration source said.
The source rejected speculation that Christie – a former US attorney and once-trusted Trump confidant – is under consideration for a Trump administration job.
“There is no role,” said a senior White House aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“There was zero, I repeat zero, conversation about that,” said the aide. “The only thing he may do is head up a commission to investigate the opioid crisis.”
Christie once held a position of influence and trust amid Trump’s circle of advisers during the campaign and was even a top vice presidential contender. But the New Jersey governor was pushed out of his role as Trump transition team head shortly after the election, and he was passed over for the job of attorney general. He didn’t get Trump’s nod to lead the Republican National Committee either; the job went to Ronna Romney McDaniel.
“Basically, the President shot him in the face twice,” the administration official said.
A second White House official insisted that Trump does not trust Christie, noting that Christie abandoned Trump in the wake of the damaging “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women.
Christie also poured cold water on the notion he might join the administration.
“I have absolutely no intention, nor any understanding, that I will be asked to be in the administration in the years to come,” Christie told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday on “State of the Union.” “My view is, I have got a job to do as governor, and then my intention is to go off to the private sector and to help support my family.”
Christie previously said he had been offered a job in the administration but that his wife did not want to move to Washington and the job was not interesting enough to sacrifice time with his family.