PROVO, Utah — Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, announced on Friday he would run for a US Senate seat in Utah, confirming months of speculation about a return to national politics.

“I’ve decided to run for United States Senate because I’ve decided I can help bring Utah’s values and Utah’s lessons to Washington,” Romney, who is seeking to replace retiring Senator Orrin Hatch, said in a video posted to Twitter.

Romney’s video made no mention of Trump but his relationship with the president looms as a major issue in the campaign. Much of the video focused on Utah values versus the Washington culture.

“Utah has a lot to teach the politicians in Washington,” he said. “... Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world. Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion. And on Utah’s Capitol Hill, people treat one another with respect.”

Trump has called for building a wall on the country’s border with Mexico and limiting legal migration.

Romney, speaking on Friday evening at a Republican Party event in Provo, Utah, called Wednesday’s school shooting in Florida “senseless, debased evil.”

“We must take action to prevent this again,” he said, adding that this would best be accomplished at the state and local levels, not in Washington.

Republicans hold 51 of the Senate’s 100 seats but that majority is not always big enough to pass the Trump agenda.

If Romney wins the Senate race, it could set him up for a direct collision with Trump, with whom he has publicly sparred.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Romney excoriated Trump as a “fraud” who was “playing the American public for suckers.” Trump responded that Romney had “choked like a dog” in his race against Obama.

However, after Trump won the presidency in November 2016, he briefly considered whether to pick Romney as his secretary of state.

Responding to one of a series of written questions, Romney said in his speech he generally approved of Trump’s agenda, but would not hesitate to call out the president if need be.

“I’m with the president’s domestic policy agenda of low taxes, low regulation, smaller government, pushing back against the bureaucrats. By and large by the way his policies are very similar to those I campaigned on. ... I’m probably more of a deficit hawk than most Republicans.”

“I’m not always with the president on what he might say or do, and if that happens I’ll call’em like I see’em, the way I have in the past, but we can certainly work together and our agenda will be for the best interests of the people of Utah and the people of our country,” he said.

On the thorny issue of immigration, Romney said he thought Trump had the right idea about the Dream Act, which lets children of immigrants born in the United States remain in the country.

“We have to recognize that we as a nation will honor the commitment made by a prior president. So I agree with the president (Trump). Let’s find a way to have these people be able to stay in our country.” — Reuters