Trump picks women for UN post and education secretary

Donald Trump began to broaden the base of his future cabinet on Nov. 23, nominating two conservative women including a critic, after his earlier picks rewarded campaign loyalists.

Trump's nomination of South Carolina's 44-year-old governor, Nikki Haley, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will be seen as a sign he is ready to forgive some foes to raise a bigger tent.

But his choice of wealthy activist Betsy DeVos, a champion of alternatives to local government schools, as education secretary, was another victory for social conservatives.

Trump's one-time presidential rival, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, appeared to be next in line for the nod -- reportedly as housing secretary -- after he posted on social media that an announcement was imminent.

Trump's choice of Haley for the U.N. was announced amid reports that Trump is considering another vocal critic -- former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- for the key post of secretary of state.

And it followed a cordial chat between Trump and The New York Times, a newspaper he considers hostile, in which he softened his stance on climate change, torture and prosecuting his defeated rival Hillary Clinton.

The 70-year-old property tycoon also told the Times that he is "seriously, seriously considering" appointing widely respected retired Marine general James Mattis as his defense secretary.

The U.N. ambassador post is of cabinet rank and if Haley -- a staunch conservative with no foreign policy experience -- is confirmed by the Senate she will become a powerful figure in world diplomacy, despite previously clashing with Trump. As one of two women tapped so far for Trump's cabinet, the daughter of Indian immigrants also injects a measure of diversity in...