Donald Trump looking at top Marco Rubio backer as U.S. Trade Representative

FILE - In this July 28, 2000 file photo, Wayne Berman is seen in Philadelphia. Mitt Romney accepted nearly $280,000 in contributions raised by a former lobbyist for Fannie Mae, despite the GOP candidate's blistering criticism of the mortgage giant. Romney and other Republicans haven't identified other so-called fundraising “bundlers,” leaving voters in the dark about who their campaigns are indebted to. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

President-elect Donald Trump is considering major Republican fundraiser Wayne Berman as the U.S. Trade Representative.

That’s according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Berman is a senior adviser at the Blackstone Group and was a strong supporter of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio‘s failed 2016 presidential campaign. He served in the Commerce Department during President George H.W. Bush‘s administration.

Trump made his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact and other multilateral trade deals a central part of his campaign. He’s pledged to negotiate bilateral trade agreements, work that would fall in part to the trade representative.

The people with knowledge of the discussions insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the internal deliberations.

Republished with permission of The Associated Press.