With the decision by former U.S. ambassador to Slovenia Lindy Blanchard to transition from a U.S. Senate run to an Alabama gubernatorial run, there has been rampant speculation former President Donald Trump would endorse Blanchard’s efforts given reports of dissension between Trump and Gov. Kay Ivey.
However, fresh off of a trip to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, who spent time with Trump, suggests a different relationship between Trump and Ivey.
During an appearance on Mobile radio’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Merrill discussed his recent interactions with Trump and the wide range of topics the two discussed.
“I tell you, Jeff, I really don’t know what my expectations were for about accomplishing our goals when we were there,” he said. “But whatever they were, they were exceeded exponentially because the time that we spent with the president was unbelievable. We had 30 minutes allotted for our visit with him. We left him approximately an hour and a half, maybe a little bit longer than that, after we were with him. We were with him the entire time. We were never separated. He was so generous and gracious with his time.”
“And one of the things that I discovered with my experiences with the president is you have to be able to talk about a number of different things because you’re going to talk about things that are important and of interest to him,” Merrill continued. “And that was the case for our visit last Tuesday. He wanted to talk about several different subjects that were wide and varied, including but not limited to Alabama’s game with Auburn, Alabama’s upcoming game with Georgia, which we just played last Saturday — and he talked about specific things that happened in that Auburn game, Jeff, that told me that he watched the game.”
“He knew about the players that we played, specific coaching decisions, which he wanted to talk about,” he added. “We also talked about the U.S. Senate race, the candidates in particular and in detail. We talked about the governor’s race. We talked about the candidates in particular and in detail.”
Merrill went somewhat into detail about the Ivey-Trump relationship and said the two had an “outstanding relationship.”
“It is interesting to hear people say, ‘Trump is leaning toward doing this, Trump is going to do this, or Trump is going to do that,’” Merrill said. “But when the president himself tells you what he is going to do or what he believes, then you don’t have to worry about what everybody else is saying because he’s told you what he’s doing, and that was outstanding because it cleared up some things that allowed me to visit with Governor Ivey to give her the message that came directly from the president, which she was very excited and happy to receive. And I think it’s going to be a very interesting time in the next few months.”
“[I] will share this with you — there is no announcement to come from me,” he added. “I am not the appropriate envoy or ambassador to share a message from the president or the governor, but I will say the governor and the president have an outstanding relationship. I know that President Trump thinks a great deal of Governor Ivey. I know they have worked together on several projects in the past. I know they hope to work together on several projects in the future. I know their respect for each other is not only returned but appreciated by both.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
