Zinke Says He Loves His Job, Even With 2 A.M. Calls From Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he enjoys his job -- despite middle-of-the-night phone calls from President Donald Trump -- and brushed aside speculation about his continued tenure.

“He’s a business guy, so he’ll call at 2 o’clock in the morning if he has a question and alls you got to do is your job,” Zinke said in an interview on “Montana Talks” radio show on Friday. “If you do your job, he supports you. He’s great to work for. I tell you, every time I’ve asked him for something he’s delivered.”

Zinke also ruled out running for Montana governor, despite rampant speculation he wants the job. “I am not going to run for governor,” Zinke said flatly, adding that “we have some exciting candidates that I will support.”

Zinke’s status as Interior secretary has come under question amid federal probes into his travel, business dealings and potential conflicts of interest. Trump told reporters Friday he had not decided to fire Zinke, but said he was still studying complaints against his Interior chief.

“I do my job; I disregard the B.S.,” Zinke said, when asked about a Politico report that he has said he plans to resign his position by the end of the year and has reached out to Fox News about working as a contributor for the news channel. “There’s no truth to it.”

Although Zinke met with Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp., it wasn’t to discuss potential work for Fox News, said two people familiar with the interaction who asked not to be named discussing private conversations.

In the meantime, Zinke said he’s happy where he is: “I enjoy the Interior -- you can get a lot done,” Zinke said. “At Interior, we’ve done great things, and we continue to do great things.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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