Secretary of State John Kerry John Forbes KerryOvernight Defense: White House eyes budget maneuver to boost defense spending | Trump heads to Hanoi for second summit with Kim | Former national security officials rebuke Trump on emergency declaration 58 ex-national security officials rebuke Trump over emergency declaration Ex-national security officials to issue statement slamming Trump's emergency declaration: WaPo MORE says in a new interview that President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE was thoughtful with some of his Cabinet picks, offering praise for both Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, chosen to head the State Department, and James Mattis, a retired general tapped for the Department of Defense.

Kerry called Trump thoughtful for picking Tillerson and Mattis in an interview with The Boston Globe, though the future Cabinet members have faced criticism after being picked by the president-elect.

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Kerry dodged making any predictions about what either pick would do once confirmed.

"Let’s wait and see. I’m not going to get ahead of the decisions that they make," Kerry told The Boston Globe. "Because governing is very, very different when you’re confronted with the realities. And I think one of the things people make a huge mistake in doing is ginning themselves up over guessing. I’m not going to guess."

Kerry was targeted by Trump for some of his policies while in office, including his work on the Iran deal, the Paris climate deal and revitalizing relations with Cuba.

Kerry is at the end of four years as secretary of State and 34 years in public office. He plans to return to Boston and work in the private sector after inauguration.