Although Mitt Romney has adamantly denied wanting to make a third attempt at running for president, the former Massachusetts governor gave more signals he is giving the 2016 presidential race "serious consideration."

After being defeated in his second effort to win the White House by President Barack Obama in 2012, the former two-time Republican presidential candidate insisted he was not interested in running for president again.

However, earlier this month, he made a surprising announcement to Republican donors about possibly campaigning for the presidential election once again, reported The Associated Press.

Romney also dropped hints about his political future while speaking at the Republican National Committee on Friday.

"I'm giving some serious consideration to the future," Romney said during the RNC's winter dinner meeting, according to ABC News.

"For our party and for the nation, 2016 is not going to be about the Obama years. It's going to be about the post-Obama era. And in the post-Obama era, conservative principles are needed as perhaps never before during our lifetime."

The former Republican governor went on to criticize both President Obama and Hillary Clinton, a potential 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, about their foreign policy.

"The results of the Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama foreign policy has been devastating," Romney said, mentioning the recent terrorist attacks in France and the threat of the Islamic State.

He also introduced three principles that could easily pass for a campaign mission statement–national security, opportunity and eliminating poverty.

"The only policies that will reach into the hearts of the American people and pull people out of poverty and break the cycle of poverty are Republican principles, conservative principles," adding the poverty rate in America is a "human tragedy."

In addition, Romney acknowledged the elephant in the room when he joked about his unannounced third run.

"There's some speculation about whether I'm about to embark [on a campaign]," Romney said, according to CBS News. "Let me state unequivocally that I have no intention of running for U.S. senator of Massachusetts."

Speculation that Romney will jump into the race for the White House next year comes after he spent months rejecting the idea he remained interested in becoming president.

"I'm not running for president," he declared on "Meet the Press" back in June, according to Yahoo! News. "I brought a number of the 2016 contenders here to meet with my fundraisers. If I had been running, I wouldn't be doing that.

He also gave a clear answer last January when asked by The New York Times if he'd consider a third presidential run, saying, "Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no."

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