Trump offers Ben Carson HUD secretary position: AP

Carson previously said he preferred to stay out of the cabinet

Dr. Ben Carson
Dr. Ben Carson

President-elect Donald Trump formally offered Dr. Ben Carson the position of secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the Associated Press.

Trump tweeted this afternoon that he was “seriously considering” the neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate for the cabinet position.

Carson said in a Fox interview Tuesday that he prefers “to be outside and to act as an advisor,” but if he were to be offered a position on Trump’s cabinet, he would “give that very serious consideration.”

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He had also reportedly turned down a position as secretary of health and human services because he was unqualified. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency,” his advisor Armstrong Williams told the Hill last week.

If Trump maintains some ties to his real estate holdings, which seems possible given what he told the New York Times today, his role in overseeing the housing agency could lead to conflicts of interest.