Carly Fiorina, who is reportedly under consideration to be Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, met with the president-elect Monday and said the pair discussed China as "probably our most important adversary."
Trump met with the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and his one-time presidential rival to discuss the director of national intelligence position, The New York Times reported, citing a senior transition official. She did not tell the reporters in New York's Trump Tower if she talked about the job with Trump.
Fiorina said the pair "spent a fair amount of time talking about China as probably our most important adversary and a rising adversary. We talked about hacking, whether it's Chinese hacking or purported Russian hacking."
Fiorina's comments highlighting China as an adversary follow Trump's provocations of Beijing shortly after he was elected by skirting decades of foreign policy precedent. She said Trump has an opportunity to "reset the trajectory of the economy, to reset the role of government, to reset America's role in the world and how we're perceived in the world."
The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community and is the top intelligence advisor to the president. The position and Fiorina's comments take on even more significance after Trump slammed the intelligence community following reports about Russia's involvement in the U.S. election.
Multiple reports say the CIA concluded that Russia used a covert intelligence operation to help Trump win the presidency. President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to deliver him evidence of Russian influence on the election, while the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate have supported bipartisan reviews of Moscow's tactics.
Trump claims the reports of Russian involvement are designed to discredit his election, and he tried to sow doubts about the CIA based on its assessments before the Iraq War. Even before the election,the intelligence community made a public conclusion that Russia directed the hacks of email accounts for U.S. political organizations.
Fiorina appeared to echo Trump and play down Moscow's involvement by calling it "purported Russian hacking."
Fiorina would join Ben Carson as a former Trump rival in his administration. During the primary campaign last year, the pair clashed after Trump mocked Fiorina's appearance.
"Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?" Trump asked during a Rolling Stone interview.
Fiorina fired back at a September GOP debate, saying "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said."