Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called Sen. John McCain on Tuesday to discuss his interest in running for the presidency, the Arizona Republican said Tuesday.

“He told me that he’s seriously considering it, and we discussed issues and friendships and things like that,” Mr. McCain, the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, told reporters. “We had a long conversation. We’re very good friends.”

Mr. McCain said he was “open” to supporting Mr. Romney, who last week told a group of donors he was considering a run for the White House in 2016.

Mitt Romney is calling former aides, donors and supporters from his 2012 campaign as he weighs launching a third presidential bid, a senior Romney aide told Fox News -- as the former Massachusetts governor also considers speaking at a Republican Party summit this week in California.

The developments, which follow the 2012 GOP presidential nominee telling donors last week he's considering a 2016 bid, show him inching ever-closer to a decision.

The latest signs that Mitt Romney is likely to run for president in 2016 may come as welcome news to former aides and supporters, many of whom received phone calls from the former Massachusetts governor this weekend.

But the prospect of another Romney campaign failed to capture the hearts of social and fiscal conservatives gathered this week in the nation's capital to hammer out the policy agenda for the new Republican-controlled Congress.

Mitt Romney can win in 2016.
Are you shaking your head, smirking and thinking, "yeah, right? Romney already had his shot. We need someone new, fresh, exciting ... someone that can galvanize the nation!"
Well, you're not alone. This is the conventional wisdom of most people and pundits. But I feel differently. For some strange reason, I have a very strong gut feeling that Romney could win in 2016.

Two sources inside Mitt Romney's inner circle tell CNN that while Romney isn't planning a presidential bid, he's listening to a lot of people who want him to get in the race -- although he remains skeptical himself.
"A lot of people in Romneyland are rooting for him to get in," says one source. "He's not one of them."
Another source close to Romney puts it this way: "I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't bet either."

There were several reports this month, based on former and current aides, that Mitt Romney is actively weighing another presidential run. The biggest sign yet comes from a recent interview with The New York Times, where the former 2012 Republican nominee offered a less than Shermanesque response to the million-dollar question.