Fox News reports that President-Elect Trump has decided to expand the search for a secretary of state beyond the four names already mentioned: 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Tennessee senator Bob Corker, and retired general David Petraeus.

According to the report, the new names under consideration are former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Exxon chief executive officer Rex Tillerson, and former U.S. ambassador to China John Huntsman.  However, senior transition team adviser Kellyanne Conway stated Sunday that the list may be even longer: “It’s a big decision, and nobody should rush through it.”

Appearing on Fox & Friends Saturday, Ambassador Bolton stated that he has met with Trump and characterized the meeting as “very serious” but declined further comment.  Presumably, Tillerson, Huntsman, and perhaps others will be interviewed this week.

I argued in no uncertain terms here and here that John Bolton is the right man for the job.  Cal Thomas has done the same.  Thomas cites a number of arguments that nicely dovetail with the ones I presented and includes several quotes from Bolton’s book Surrendering Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations, which should be required reading by the Trump transition team.

What about Tillerson and Huntsman?  Though a Republican, the latter served in the Obama administration as ambassador to China during 2009-2011, at which time he returned to the United States to explore a run for the presidency.  Two years in China hardly qualifies Huntsman as a “China hand.”  I frankly don’t see how he or Texas oilman Tillerson, who has no diplomatic credentials at all, measures up to Bolton’s qualifications when it comes to helping define and carry out U.S. foreign policy.  To reiterate, the same goes for Romney, Giuliani, Corker, and Petraeus.