delegate in 1984; he stated he would "not be attending this year's convention, nor any Republican convention in the future until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States — a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits." Shortly after Obama was re-elected as president, Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina suggested that the Obama campaign believed Huntsman would have been a particularly difficult candidate to face in the general election. Messina said that the campaign was "honest about our concerns about Huntsman" and that Huntsman "would have been a very tough candidate". In January 2014, Huntsman was named chairman of the Atlanticist think-tank the Atlantic Council. Huntsman indicated in an interview with Politico that he would not run in the 2016 presidential election. In April 2016, Huntsman decided to endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump, but later retracted his endorsement of Trump following the Access Hollywood controversy. However, Huntsman later defended Trump in interviews with Fox News and The New York Times after Trump received criticism for accepting a congratulatory phone call with the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, during his transition process. Huntsman said the critics were overreacting to Trump's decision to accept the phone call, and that Trump's nontraditional style might be an opportunity for a shift in Asia relations in future talks with China. In November 2016, Huntsman said he was considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2018, though ultimately he chose not to run for the seat. Huntsman was the co-chair of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, along with Dennis C. Blair. The commission is an independent and bipartisan initiative from the public and private sectors. Its mission is to document and assess the extent of international intellectual property theft, particularly by China, and propose appropriate policy responses. According to the commission's analysis, the U.S. has lost up to $600 billion in illicit technology transfers to China. According to Huntsman, Ambassador to Russia On December 3, 2016, the Associated Press reported Huntsman was under consideration by Donald Trump and the Trump transition team as a possible choice for United States Secretary of State in 2017, although Rex Tillerson was chosen 10 days later. It was reported on March 8, 2017, that Huntsman accepted a position as