Trump must unify Republicans, Democrats in next few months, Huntsman Jr. says


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SALT LAKE CITY — President-elect Donald Trump must unify Republicans and Democrats around a couple of big goals during his first year in office to gain Americans' trust, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday.

Huntsman identified those issues as fixing taxes, improving immigration — not with a wall — and settling down the four civil wars in the Middle East. He said the new president doesn't need to solve those problems but at least show progress.

"He’ll probably have a so-called honeymoon period, which used to be two years, now it’s six months, maybe 100 days, to make the system work and then the political goodwill is gone, and then you’re in a bad place," he said.

Huntsman talked to the KSL and Deseret News editorial boards about a range of national and local issues, as well as his family and his own political plans.

A 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Huntsman backed Trump's run for the White House, though he called for Vice President-elect Mike Pence to lead the ticket after the billionaire businessman's vulgar comments about women came to light in an "Access Hollywood" video.

Americans will find out over the next six months whether Trump can build winning coalitions to move the needle in a couple areas, Huntsman said.

"I want to reserve judgment because he's talked about doing some of the right things, and now he's got to go from the private sector environment to the public sector. They're both very, very different things," he said.

Huntsman said he has been part of groups, including the No Labels organization that he co-leads, that have made recommendations to Trump on those and other issues. No Labels includes Republicans, Democrats and independents focused on problem-solving in politics.

Bipartisan solutions are possible in tax and health care reform, while immigration and filling the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy will be divisive, he said.

Huntsman said he doesn't have a role in a Trump administration nor does he want one.

"But if asked, I would salute," said Huntsman, who served as U.S. ambassador to China in the Obama administration.

Huntsman, who recently moved back to Utah, has expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Hatch has not made it clear whether he would run for an eighth term in 2018. Huntsman said he's not prepared to say yes or no before Hatch makes a decision.

Another bid for president isn't in the cards, Huntsman said, noting "I've tried that."

"To run for president, you have to be a good entertainer. It's theatrics at its best and worst," he said.

Huntsman also said he wouldn't run for Utah governor again, saying "you can never redo what you did."

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It was under Huntsman that Utah went to the flat income tax rate that a proposed citizens initiative would raise to bring in $750 million for public schools.

Huntsman said he did the "un-Republican" thing and gave as much money as he could to teachers as governor, but he doesn't favor increasing the tax. A strong economy should be able to provide the necessary dollars for education, he said.

"I'm not a believer that a simple increase in taxes is the magic elixir on education," Huntsman said. "I think you earn it in economic development, and I think you improve it by things like charter schools and ultimately greater mobility in the education system."

A father of seven children, Huntsman became emotional talking about his two sons serving in the Navy, including one who just earned his wings at flight school and another in combat dive school.

"You want those people respected. You want them funded. You want them deployed in areas that are consistent with our nation's values, and not theoretical constructs where we just need to go to war to promote democracy and we find ourselves in a 15-year war," he said.

Huntsman said he thinks about them every time the politics of war comes up.

"I'm not going there because these guys can't do that. They're an extension of the best that our nation has to offer. They're the tip of the spear, and that spear is an American spear. It isn't a Republican or a Democratic spear. It's an American spear, and we need to be reminded of that every now and again," he said.

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Dennis Romboy

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