Nine days after the public humiliation of being unceremoniously dumped as the head of Trump’s presidential transition, Christie on Sunday showed up among the parade of potential Trump administration job seekers to meet with the president-elect at his New Jersey golf course.

Asked if there would be a place for Christie in his administration, Trump did not exactly say yes. Instead, he declared Christie “a very talented” man, who is also “really smart and tough.”

A half-hour later, Trump ushered Christie out, following a private session that both men pronounced to have been a positive one…

“Trump’s little black book of people he trusts in politics is two pages long. The way it runs, which isn’t in Trump’s interest, is like court politics for some potentate in the 17th century,” said veteran GOP consultant Mike Murphy, who has been a vocal Trump critic. “It’s a snake pit where people die. But even when people die, they can get resurrected when there’s a vacuum.”