Chris Christie does not anticipate a role in the Trump Administration, the New Jersey governor said during CNN's "State of the Union" talk show Sunday.
Christie, who has been a loyal ally of the president, made the comments to Jake Trapper of CNN's "State of Union" Sunday talk show when asked if he would join the administration if Trump asked.
"My view is, I have got a year to go, as you aptly put in your question, a little short of a year, as governor of New Jersey," Christie said on the show. "And then, after that, as I have told everybody, my intention is to go to the private sector and work to help support my family in a different way than I have been able to over the last 16 years as U.S. attorney and as governor.
"But, as always, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has been my friend and Mary Pat's friend for the last 15 years. And whenever he calls or I call him, and we have conversations, I'm always willing, if he asks, to give my opinion on things. But I have absolutely no intention, nor any understanding, that I will be asked to be in the administration in the years to come."
Christie declined to say on the talk show how much he and Trump have continued to talk since the campaign, where the governor was one of the president's most vocal surrogates.
"The conversations between me and the president of the United States, to the extent they occur, will always remain between me and the president of the United States," Christie said.
Christie had been rumored to be on the short list for vice president and attorney general under Trump but those positions did not come to pass for him. The Washington Times reported that Christie was then removed from his duties as running Trump's transition team after the presidential election.
"News reports said it didn't help that Mr. Christie, as U.S. attorney, once prosecuted real estate developer Charles Kushner — the father of Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared, who is now serving as a top White House aide," stated Washington Times writer Tom Howell Jr.
"He was also hampered by the prosecution of aides who ordered lane closures near the George Washington Bridge in an apparent payback scheme against a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse Mr. Christie's reelection bid," Howell continued, referring to Christie's "Bridgegate" scandal.