Stepping up his search for a new US secretary of State, President-elect Donald Trump has met highly-decorated but scandal-scarred former CIA chief David Petraeus amid open infighting among Trump’s advisers over who to pick for the coveted post.
Petraeus, one of America’s most celebrated generals credited with turning the tide in Iraq, spent an hour with Trump at his office in Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday.
Trump tweeted about the meeting immediately afterwards, saying he “was very impressed” with the retired general.
“Just met with General Petraeus — was very impressed!” Trump said in a tweet after his meeting with the former decorated general of the US armed forces and the top spy master. In his brief interaction with reporters after the meeting, Petraeus said it was a “very good conversation,” and added that, “We’ll see where it goes from here.”
He said Trump showed a great grasp of a variety of global challenges. “I was with him for about an hour. He basically walked us around the world,” he said.