AP Photo Mitt Romney says he’s considering a 2016 run 
 
 Mitt Romney told a group of longtime supporters on Friday that he is considering running for president, a major turnaround for a past GOP nominee who just a year ago categorically ruled out a 2016 run. 
 
 If he follows through, it would be Romney’s third White House campaign, and it would shake up the already large field of Republicans eyeing the presidency. But even many Romney supporters are skeptical he will ultimately jump in and risk losing three times. 
 
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 “Everybody in here can go tell your friends that I’m considering a run,” Romney said at a private meeting in New York with about 30 former donors, according to one source. 
 
 The former Massachusetts governor, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, said he had a number of ideas about how to help the country, and that one of the issues he’d like to address is poverty, two people on hand at the meeting said. He also pledged that if he does decide to join the race, he would run a much different campaign than he has in the past. 
 
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 Romney’s 2012 race was plagued by complaints about insularity and a lack of a clear, defining message beyond being the anti-President Obama. He was caricatured by Democrats as a cold-blooded jobs killer during his private equity days, and was never able to relate to voters. 
 
 The gathering was called a few weeks ago and was held in midtown Manhattan. Romney’s remarks were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. 
 
 People on hand included financier Patrick Durkin, and Alex Nabab, both of whom have committed to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is also exploring a 2016 run, and were involved in events with him earlier in the week in New York City and Connecticut. That both are already on the Bush bandwagon underscores the challenge Romney would face in trying to ensure his donor network remains intact if he runs. 
 
 For Romney’s former backers, the news wasn’t a complete surprise. For weeks, he has been slowly ratcheting up his rhetoric in conversations. But his decision to informally test the waters came as Bush has dominated media coverage and donor interest for the last several weeks, including the two New York-area events. And a number of the attendees, who said they were invited to a confidential meeting with Romney and were given no heads-up that he would use the gathering to make a more direct case for himself, were frustrated to find word of it had leaked. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Bush blasts off) 
 
 Bush has been moving to engage the extensive donor network that backed his father and his brother in their White House campaigns. That means that for Romney, the window is closing. One source close to Romney said he will likely decide within the next two months about his next move. 
 
 Romney allies and former staffers have spent much of the past two years lamenting that he should have won in his 2012 campaign against President Barack Obama. Romney also ran for the White House in 2008, but lost the GOP nod to Sen. John McCain of Arizona. 
 
 Just a year ago, in an interview with The New York Times, Romney ruled out a presidential run in a most emphatic manner: “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no,” he said. 
 
 But Romney supporters have argued that there’s a clamor for people who would like to see someone emerge as a leader for the Republican Party during a particularly fractious time, and Romney recently began making clear to donors and supporters that such talk was affecting his thinking. 
 
 In addition, Romney told those gathered Friday that his wife, Ann, was now very encouraging toward his running again, a source said — a change from her past protests. The couple’s five sons, however, were split on the notion. 
 
 Bush’s decision to move quickly to draw a line in the sand was in part because of Romney’s overtures to donors. Bush allies had privately grown frustrated that Romney was freezing some donors who hoped he would launch a campaign of his own. 
 
 Bush announced in December that he is considering a 2016 run, and he has moved quickly since to set up a leadership PAC, dubbed “The Right to Rise” to accept donations. A super PAC with the same name has also been set up to help Bush. 
 
 The former Florida governor has repeatedly said he won’t make a stark pitch to the Republican Party’s more conservative base by bending his positions to appease voters. He also has lamented that no recent GOP nominee has tried to avoid taking positions to win over GOP primary voters who are more conservative, stances that end up turning off general election voters. 
 
 Bush and Romney are looking to occupy the center-right establishment lane. A sprawling array of senators, governors and former officials who appeal to different segments of the conservative base are also in the GOP’s potential 2016 mix. Among those seriously laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign are Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Ted Cruz of Texas. Also a possibility is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, would likely vie for the same center-right support that Romney and Bush would seek. 
 
 Romney drew flak for his overtures to the right in 2012, especially on the subject of immigration. Bush has criticized the way Romney allowed himself to be defined negatively by Democrats during that campaign. Democrats at the time cast Romney, who made a fortune in the financial sector, as a heartless businessman. 
 
 Romney, in turn, has argued privately that Bush, should he run in 2016, will face some of the same criticism over his own extensive business ties. Bush has recently taken steps to reduce his private sector links. And Bush allies privately point out that Romney made his business record as a private equity executive a centerpiece of his rationale for running, something the former Florida governor isn’t planning to do. 
 
 At Friday’s gathering, there was a consensus among Romney supporters that he needs to reintroduce himself to the voters, in a complimentary way like the video aired about him at the GOP convention in 2012. Romney responded by saying that the damaging portraits of him are now old news and therefore less harmful. 
 
 For Romney, the prospect of another campaign also is a potential boon to business: Many of his donors are also potential investors in his son Tagg’s firm, Solamere Capital. 
 
 But Romney, whose late father also ran for president, has dreamed of the White House for years. 
 
 His increased interest comes not just as Bush has been trying to seize the establishment lane, but as Hillary Clinton, the undeclared but overwhelming Democratic favorite, has seen her approval numbers fall in recent months. 
 
 Follow @politico ||||| Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a group of donors on Friday that he is considering a White House bid in 2016, a move that could scramble the race for the Republican presidential nomination. 
 
 The remarks confirm months of speculation that the GOP’s nominee from 2012, who was also a top 2008 contender, is seriously weighing a third White House bid. 
 
 Mr. Romney’s comments to donors at a meeting in New York City came at a... ||||| Washington (CNN) Mitt Romney told an audience of Republican donors in New York on Friday that he is seriously considering a third presidential bid. 
 
 "Mitt told the group of 30 or so guys that were there that he is considering a run for the White House and that they could go tell their friends," a source in the room told CNN. The Wall Street Journal first reported the comments. 
 
 Though his loyalists and supportive donors have floated his name as a potential candidate for the better part of a year, Romney himself has been more reticent about mounting another White House bid after his 2008 and 2012 losses. 
 
 But Romney's outlook has changed in recent weeks, according to people who have spoken with him recently, and he seems to be more serious than ever before. 
 
 Romney has kept in close touch with his donors, many of whom have become close friends over two presidential cycles, according to one source close to Romney who was not at the meeting in New York but is familiar with his thinking. Romney hosts an annual retreat each year in Park City for policy discussions—and used the two most recent gatherings in 2013 and 2014 to introduce them to potential 2016 presidential candidates including Rand Paul and Chris Christie. (Jeb Bush was invited to speak last summer, but could not attend because of previous commitments, including his father's birthday). 
 
 Many of Romney's New York donors, who are in frequent touch with him, had suggested a lunch or get-together when Romney was in New York, which resulted in the meeting with donors on Friday as he was on his way back from Charlie Baker's swearing in as the new governor of Massachusetts, this person said. 
 
 Former aides to Romney have said that his thinking about the race has evolved over several months, particularly after he had time to reflect on being back on the campaign trail for the midterm races. As former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has moved toward a bid, many donors had pressed him for a signal about his level of interest. 
 
 "He had not closed his mind on this, and today was the day that he decided to share that with the group of people he was with," the source familiar with Romney's thinking said. "His conviction that the country is on the wrong track is very strong. He's very concerned with America's role in the world. Nothing has changed on that." 
 
 As far as re-entering the field for the Republican nomination, the source said, "He knows he would have to earn it, he knows no one is handed the nomination, but he's giving it some thought....His head hasn't changed, I think he was just formalizing it a little bit," at the Friday meeting, the source said, to let donors know he was considering a bid more seriously. 
 
 Romney's comments come in the wake of Jeb Bush's stepped-up political activity. Bush, Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — all favorites of the Republican establishment and New York donor community — would presumably draw from the same pool of financial backers. 
 
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 "I think he is serious," said the person at the New York meeting. "One of the first things he said he said was, 'People ask me, do you want to be president? Well, yes, I did run twice." 
 
 Romney said that his wife, Ann, is "very encouraging" about 2016, the source said, but his sons are split about the idea, the source who was in the room said. 
 
 The source familiar with Romney's thinking also said Ann is "supportive of it" if that's what Romney wants. "I don't think he would have come to this without talking to his family." 
 
 At the heart of this, this source adds, is that "the state of the country hasn't settled for him. he won't be happy sitting on the sidelines." 
 
 The former Massachusetts governor told the crowd that a potential campaign would "have to have a positive message." He also said, somewhat obviously, that he "would run a different campaign from what he's run in the past." 
 
 Romney entertained questions about the rest of the potential 2016 field but had only positive things to say about his would-be rivals, the source said. 
 
 The news comes after a week chock-full of high-profile potential Republican presidential candidates taking the first steps toward announcing their candidacy for the 2016 election. 
 
 Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched a Leadership PAC this week, just days after resigning his position on various corporate and nonprofite boards. And former GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee quit his show on Fox News last week to give 2016 some serious consideration. 
 
 And CNN reported Wednesday that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is assembling a team for a potential 2016 presidential bid. 
 
 The revelation of Romney's overtures to top GOP donors is yet another addition to the long-term game of footsy Romney has played with the media and other Republicans who would like to know whether Romney is in or out -- though it's certainly the most definitive and serious indication that Romney might actually launch a third presidential bid. 
 
 Romney was rumored to be through with his presidential ambitions after a grueling 2012 run, but this summer he made several head nods that he was considering. 
 
 Romney told the Washington Post this summer that "we'll have to see what happens" and said in another interview that the chances were very slim -- but conceded there was nonetheless always a chance. 
 
 "We never say never," Ann Romney said on CNN's "New Day" this summer.
– Heads up, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie: Mitt Romney said today that he may run for president in 2016, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sources say he made the announcement at a meeting with Republican donors in New York City. "Mitt told the group of 30 or so guys that were there that he is considering a run for the White House and that they could go tell their friends," a source from the meeting tells CNN. Romney cited trouble overseas and the long-term economy as motives for running, but gave no timetable for deciding. Romney had been iffy on whether to run after losing in 2008 and 2012, CNN says, but had a change of mind over the past few weeks. "I think he is serious," says the CNN source. "One of the first things he said he said was, 'People ask me, do you want to be president? Well, yes, I did run twice.'" Romney reportedly says his wife Ann is "very encouraging" but his sons are divided over a 2016 run. A Romney candidacy could "upend the emerging GOP field" just as donors are gathering around Bush, the Journal says. A GOP funder at Romney's meeting, Alex Nabab, had been "part of" a recent Bush event, and Bush allies have expressed frustration over GOP donors holding out in the hope of a Romney run, Politico reports.