Tag: Rex Tillerson

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Axios: “You Were Rex Tillerson, CEO Of Exxon”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

In light of the recent friction reported between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Donald Trump, smart guy Mike Allen at Axios wrote this which I feel puts a lot into perspective.

You headed one of America’s couple largest companies, and the biggest of the energy “supermajors”:

You were unusually imperious, even for a corporate big shot — waited on hand and foot by lackeys who stroked and coddled you for decades.

You had a corporate dining room, so you never had to see the rabble.

You presided over one of the most hierarchical of the world’s corporate cultures, reflecting the tone set by John D. Rockefeller.

You flew private all over the globe. You got briefing books, had your own foreign policy, and a security detail.

You were Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon.

Now you’re Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State to Donald Trump. Your life blows:

Your boss doesn’t love you, and doesn’t even think he needs someone in your job — he likes doing it himself, and thinks he should.

You don’t think much of your boss, and neither do your friends.

You’re supposed to cut your budget: always a thankless job — but one that, in this case, may not even be a good idea.

Morale in your building is terrible, and no one thinks you have juice.

You treat everyone dismissively — media, colleagues, counterparts — with predictable results.

Yes, you called your boss a “moron” during a meeting at the Pentagon. It could have been worse.

You didn’t even bother to deny it, although finally your spokesperson did. Everyone in the West Wing thinks/knows you said it.

Some people who were in the room tattled to the press. So now you have to go out and say your boss is a genius — as if you were being forced to apologize to a sibling.

And now you’re trapped. The new regime downtown wants stability. Expectations were that you’d be gone by Thanksgiving, but now that’s stretched into 2018.

On top of it all, after a perfect career, your last public act is already an obvious failure — and you have to keep doing it.

Welcome to Rex Tillerson’s life. No wonder he doesn’t feel very diplomatic.

While the White House continues to issue denials, Allen reports today that Trump advisers and allies are considering the idea of replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo — someone who’s already around the table in the Situation Room, and could make the switch without chaos.

Pay attention to Axios because the folks there correctly called the departures of Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, and Anthony Scaramucci on their respective dates.

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Tillerson Dodges On Calling Trump “Moron,” Trump Rants At Fake News Again

Trouble in Trump Land today as Donald Trump lambasted NBC News for reporting that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson threatened to resign this past summer when Donald Trump gave a highly politicized speech at the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree.

From NBC News:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time.

The tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led, the officials said.

Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a “moron,” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident.

In an unscheduled statement to reporters Wednesday morning, Tillerson directly addressed that version of events, saying, “I have never considered leaving this post.”

If you ask me, the secretary appears to be playing to an audience of one. And you know exactly who I mean.

After Tillerson’s comments, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle (who contributed to the report) told viewers that her source said not only did Tillerson call Trump a “moron,” he called Trump a “f*cking moron.”

You can watch Tillerson respond to reporters this morning where he clearly dodges the question of whether or not he actually called the president a “moron.”

Here’s how it played out on Twitter:

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Trump To Tillerson: Don’t Waste Your Time With North Korea

A day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters the United States currently has direct lines of communication with North Korea attempting to negotiate regarding the country’s missile programs, Donald Trump tweeted that the effort was a waste of time.

“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done.”

Has anyone told Trump these kinds of negotiations are exactly what a secretary of state does?

I’ve never seen a president undercut his own secretary of state in such a public manner.

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Secretary Of State Distances Himself From Trump: “The President Speaks For Himself”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson put some distance between himself and Donald Trump today when speaking with Fox News’ Chris Wallace.

Wallace asked Tillerson whether or not Donald Trump’s stance on racist violence had made it more difficult to promote U.S. values around the world. “We represent the American people, their commitment to freedom and to equal treatment to people the world over, and that message has never changed,” Tillerson replied.

Tillerson added, “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values or the commitment of the American government or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values.”

But when Wallace asked about the president’s values? “The president speaks for himself, Chris,” Tillerson replied.

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Could Rex Tillerson Resign As Secretary Of State Before End Of The Year?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

CNN is reporting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is growing weary of White House antics, including President Trump’s attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which Tillerson considers “unprofessional.”

Sources are hinting Tillerson could leave the State department before the end of the year.

Among those who viewed the President’s public rebuke of Sessions as unprofessional, according to several sources, is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon-Mobil CEO.

Tillerson has a growing list of differences with the White House, including a new debate over Iran policy and personnel. His frustration is hardly a secret and it has spilled out publicly at times. But friends sense a change of late.

For weeks, conversations with Tillerson friends outside of Washington have left the impression that he, despite his frustrations, was determined to stay on the job at least through the end of the year. That would allow time to continue efforts to reorganize the State Department and would mean he could claim to have put in a year as America’s top diplomat.

But two sources who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity over the weekend said they would not be surprised if there was a “Rexit” from Foggy Bottom sooner than that.

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State & Labor Departments Recognize Pride Month 2017

President Trump won’t recognize Pride Month this year, but the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense have.

And now, we hear from both the State Department and the Labor Department.

First from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson:

In recognition of LGBTI Month, the Department of State affirms its solidarity with the human rights defenders and civil society organizations working around the world to uphold the fundamental freedoms of LGBTI persons to live with dignity and freedom.

We also recognize that LGBTI persons continue to face the threat of violence and discrimination. Violence and discrimination targeting any vulnerable group undermines our collective security as well as American values. When all persons are protected on the basis of equality and with dignity, global stability is strengthened. We will continue to support the human rights of LGBTI persons together with like-minded governments, businesses, and civil society organizations globally.

The United States remains committed to human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons. Dignity and equality for all persons are among our founding constitutional principles, and these principles continue to drive U.S. diplomacy.

And from Labor Secretary Alex Acosta:

This June, we recognize Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Pride Month at the Department of Labor. The department honors the impactful contributions of all Americans, no matter their ethnic background, gender, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation.

Pride at DOL, the Department’s Affinity Group for LGBTQ Employees and Allies, helps educate about issues of concern to those in the LGBTQ community and has partnered with the Diversity and Inclusion Branch of the Office of Employee Engagement to offer programming in support of this special emphasis month.

LGBT Pride Month events can be found on LaborNet. There will be training on Understanding LGBTQ Diversity, guest speakers discussing issues and challenges that impact the LGBTQ community, films, and visibility tables throughout the month to provide resource information.

Additionally, the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Smithsonian Learning Lab sites provide event information and resources in association with LGBTQ Pride Month.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Rex Tillerson Confirmed As New Secretary Of State

Newly confirmed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

The New York Times has the details:

Rex W. Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday in a 56 to 43 vote to become the nation’s 69th secretary of state just as serious strains have emerged with important international allies.

The many votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation made his selection among the most contentious for a secretary of state in recent history, and he takes his post just as many traditional American allies are questioning the policies of President Trump.

In the past 50 years, the most contentious confirmations for secretary of state were those of Condoleezza Rice in 2005, who passed by a vote of 85 to 13, and Henry Kissinger in 1973, who was confirmed 78 to 7.

Mr. Trump is the most unapologetically nationalistic president of the modern era who has questioned the value of many of the alliances and multilateral institutions that the United States has nurtured since World War II to keep world order. How Mr. Tillerson’s translates Mr. Trump’s vow of “America First” into the kind of polite diplomatic parlance that will maintain vital alliances will be a significant test.

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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Votes 11-10 For Rex Tillerson Sec. Of State Nomination

Voting straight down party lines 11-10, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced the nomination of Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State.

The only possible stray vote might have been Republican Sen. Marco Rubio who leaned in tough on Tillerson about civil rights violations around the world during confirmation hearings.

According to sources, Rubio says he voted for Tillerson because he didn’t want to “create unwarranted political controversy.”

The nomination now goes to the floor of the full Senate. It’s pretty clear Tillerson will be confirmed.