Donald Trump picks Rex Tillerson to lead State Department
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson shook hands at a June 2012 signing ceremony of an agreement between state-controlled Russian oil company Rosneft and ExxonMobil at the Black Sea port of Tuapse, southern Russia.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson delivered remarks, in March 2015, on the release of a report by the National Petroleum Council on oil drilling in the Arctic, in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump selected Tillerson to lead the State Department on Tuesday.
NEW YORK >> President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday he has picked ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state, calling him “among the most accomplished business leaders and international deal makers in the world.”
But Tillerson has close ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin, which is certain to draw scrutiny and fuel a potential Senate confirmation fight. Leading Republicans have already expressed anxieties as they contend with intelligence assessments saying Russia interfered with the U.S. presidential election to help Trump.
Trump says he sees Tillerson’s ties with Moscow as a selling point, along with his “vast experience at dealing successfully with all types of foreign governments.”
“Rex Tillerson’s career is the embodiment of the American dream. Through hard work, dedication and smart deal making, Rex rose through the ranks to become CEO of ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest and most respected companies,” the billionaire real estate mogul said in a pre-dawn news release from Trump Tower in New York.
Tillerson “knows how to manage a global enterprise, which is crucial to running a successful State Department,” Trump said.
In an accompanying statement, Tillerson said he was “honored” by his selection and shares Trump’s “vision for restoring the credibility of the United States’ foreign relations and advancing our country’s national security.”
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Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that will hold confirmation hearings in January, called Tillerson “a very impressive individual” with “an extraordinary working knowledge of the world.” Corker, who had been considered for the secretary of state job, said Trump called him Monday to inform him of the pick.
Reince Priebus, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, said Tuesday that Tillerson was chosen because he is “a diplomat that happens to be able to drill oil.” Tillerson has “had to maintain relationships across the world in many places that aren’t the easiest places to have relationships,” Priebus said on MSNBC.
“The good Lord didn’t put oil in all freedom-loving democracies across the world and yet Rex Tillerson was able to make this work. Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson, they hit it off and they have a similar vision of how to get things done,” Priebus said.
For weeks, Trump has teased out the secretary of state decision process publicly, often exposing rifts in his organization. Besides Corker, he also considered former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a one-time vocal Trump critic. Romney wrote on Facebook Monday that it “was an honor to have been considered” for the job.
Trump’s unconventional Cabinet vetting procedures are in keeping with his presidential style thus far, unconcerned with tradition or business as usual. In recent weeks, he’s attacked CIA intelligence, spoken to the leader of Taiwan — irritating China — and has continued his late-night Twitter tirades.
Beijing is looking forward to working with the new secretary of state “to push forward greater progress of the bilateral relationship on a new starting point,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Tuesday.
In Washington, a congressional investigation is in the works over a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the November election on his behalf, a conclusion Trump has called “ridiculous.”
The issue is raising red flags among lawmakers concerned about the sanctity of the U.S. voting system and potentially straining relations at the start of Trump’s administration.
On Twitter Monday, Trump pushed back, saying: “Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!”
Putin, meanwhile, said he was ready to meet with Trump “at any moment.”
In the transcript of his interview with journalists which was released Tuesday in Moscow, Putin said “it’s widely known that the elected president of the United States has publicly called for the normalization of the Russian-American relationship. We cannot but support this.” Putin added that he thought a meeting with Trump would be more likely after Trump’s January inauguration.
“We understand it will not be a simple task considering the extent of degradation of the Russian-American relationship,” he said. “But we are prepared to do our bit.”
If confirmed, Tillerson would face immediate challenges in Syria, where a civil war rages on, and in China, given Trump’s recent suggestions that he could take a more aggressive approach to dealing with Beijing.
A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, Tillerson came to ExxonMobil Corp. as a production engineer straight out of the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 and never left. Groomed for an executive position, Tillerson came up in the rough-and-tumble world of oil production, holding posts in the company’s central United States, Yemen and Russian operations.
Early in the company’s efforts to gain access to the Russian market, Tillerson cut a deal with state-owned Rosneft. The neglected post-Soviet company didn’t have a tremendous amount to offer, but Exxon partnered with it “to be on the same side of the table,” Tillerson said, according to “Private Empire,” an investigative history of Exxon by Steve Coll.
Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman in Washington and Alex Sanz in Atlanta contributed to this report.
36 responses to “Donald Trump picks Rex Tillerson to lead State Department”
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good pick..now watch all the swamp critters croak
aloha pe trump imua!!
Very obvious now why Putin wanted Donald Trump to win the election. Trump and his cabinet are business agents for Russia and will make Russia Great Again,
Tillerson will not be bettered as a pick. He was loyal to XOM in his time
of employment with them. He will be loyal to President-Elect Trump and the
US as Secretary of State. He will have friends among other world leaders,
but he will use those friendships to advance US interests, not his own
apart from those US interests.
There is a big difference between business and politics. In business you
advocate for all parties while representing one. In politics you advocate
only for the one party that you represent. The business-backgrounded
diplomat will therefore have the greater strengths in reaching out on
behalf of the US than the politically-backgrounded diplomat. It would be
a mistake for Trump to nominate a politician, regardless of how much
competence they possessed. Their background just isn’t the best for the
job. No doubt that he is being pressured to do just that, even from his
own Republican party.
You’ve ingested WAY too much koolaid.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/opinions/cabinet-boardroom-michaels-opinion/index.html
Cilnton News Network Is that the best you can do? Lock her up.
TheDonald is making America Great Again! Out with career politicians not knowing how to deal with adversaries but with fear mongering to the general public. Let’s be smart about his, give them the oil deal and have Russia and China to concede to things the US wants.
Agreed. Look at John Kerry, never had a private sector job. Never had to meet a payroll and handle the taxes and regulations that his party put out!!! Ron Reagan took the same course in putting business people on the cabinet–people who know how to get things done and manage people.
And the result of Reagan’s Presidency is seen now in the greatest monetary margin of haves and have-nots. By cutting the top tax rates to supposedly trickle-down the money, the rich got insanely wealthy and the middle class began the decay we see today. How rich does one NEED to be?
Reagan put business people in the government and tripled the national debt.
This country elected a non-politician and probably the most unusual candidate of all time to the highest office so why should anyone think that his cabinet appointments be similar to past presidents. Personally, even though Trump’s personality is not something I admire, my dislike for politicians has led me to have high hopes for him.
Conflict of interest use to bother Republicans. Not anymore.
OPEC Secretary General to CNBC: Tillerson is “an outstanding, accomplished” person; “he brings a lot to the table as Secretary of State”
What is the conflict of interest?
it does not involve hilliary or anyone that donated to the Clinton foundation–the conflict is between what is best for the country as opposed to what was best for the Clintons.
Exxon is dependent of it’s business ties to Russia. Putin can make or break Exxon.
Interesting that Chuck Shummer or other Dems don’t feel the Clinton Foundation was a conflict in interest, but are concerned that there MAY be a conflict because of the nominee’s business experience. Plus, no Democrat complained about the Muslin connections to Iran in the White House. How did that work out? We should welcome experienced individuals from outside of government; hopefully the era of political hacks with no experience are over (at least for now). Does anyone care to defend the “experience” of Hillary, Ben Rhodes, and the rest? The world is on fire….good job.
Conflict of interest never bothered Democrats, until now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Foundation%E2%80%93State_Department_controversy
IRT latenightroach: So are your point that conflict of interest DOESN’T matter or that Trumps conflict of interest is LIKE Clintons conflict of interest?
My point is this jusris – Trumps opponents are so willing to ignore or pay no attention to the Clinton’s conflicts, but now they’re trying so hard to find conflicts with PE Trump & his appointees. Don’t you find that amusing?
The air smells like oil, big oil. the nightmare has just begun
The nightmare begins Friday on Oahu.
GASP!
Depends of course on what you consider a nightmare. For many of us, it began 8 years ago and may finally be ending.
“concerned about the sanctity of the U.S. voting system”
If by this the reporter means hiding the lying and corruption in the DNC nomination process, and the corruption in some parts of the media, then I think he has it backwards.
By revealing the emails, whoever it was that did it, they improved the sanctity of the US voting system, not damaged it.
A basic cornerstone of democracy is an informed electorate.
I could not agree more. Democrats are outraged at the messenger, whoever it may be, who exposed the corruption within the DNC and the collusion between the DNC, the Clinton campaign, the media and even the Obama administration to help Hilary defeat Sanders in the primary and Trump in the General Election. Americans of all political affiliations should instead be outraged and focused on what the hacking exposed. Democrats are trying very hard to prevent that. Their goal is to shoot the messenger.
Excellent Pick! With Ambassador John Bolten at his side,now we will see now,how real deals are done. At last Real Change is coming,not this “Phony,Baloney Plastic Banana” deals we’ve been stuck with for the past 8 years. OMG
Go Donald!MAGA!
I’d like to see how the Liberal Left Democrats will try to spin this pick,after Handing everything over to Russia,including: The Middle east.ie. Syria, Iran ,The Dreadful “Redline” in the sand, Appeasing Russia, when Russia tells us the U.SA. to get out of the way while combating ISIS! And let’s not forget “Cry Me A River” Crimea! The Democrats and yes even the Republicans OWN this one,this one is there Baby ,Lock Stock and Barrel!
So don’t try to Blame Rex Tillerson for all the unrest in the world,the unrest that y’all created in the first place.
I digress……….wheewwwww! Aaaaaaaahhh Breath in,and Breath out!Ok Let me touch my index finger to my thumb & go into my lotus position. Haaaaaaaaaaaa! OK all better.
Off Grid: Wouldn’t you like to be a Fly on the Wall,when President Elect Trump meets with the owner of the Washington Post/ Amazon and yours truly…..The Star Advertiser? Man!Like Klastri face on post election day, I would Pay Money to be in the same room! IMUA!
IMUA MoiLee..things are looking up!!
aloha!!
Go MoiLee Go!! ^5
My take, looking like a corpse regarding you know who…flesh tone has not returned..ash looking I bet!
January 20, 2017 #MAGA
All of the previous comments reveal what is wrong with politics today. You all are still rambling on about stuff that had nothing to do with this article. This is about the Secretary of State job. Do any of you even know what the job entails? This guy who was chosen obviously doesn’t know either.
The real concern here is where are we headed in direction of foreign policy. Looks like we are definitely making step towards the “blood for oil” agenda that has led to the loss of many lives and the rise of terrorism. Please pay attention.
Dave, Dave, Dave…..Go back to your farm and take care of the sheep. Let the Don do what he was elected to do.
I see much change happening and yet you don’t see it.
What/who are you using as your benchmark, Hillary and Barry? Sorry but IMO they didn’t do a great job. Barry started his presidency with an apology tour and ended up with nothing to show for it and Hillary used her position to personally amass more than $100M.
FarmerDave: you are correct. We all DO need to pay attention. We cannot just lie down and let the president elect run the country i the same way he runs his so-called successful business ventures. He promised to surround himself with the smartest people, yet he continuers to choose people who are narrow-minded in their “smarts” and will be unable to deal with the complexities of the rest of the world. Again, we MUST pay attention…
IRT FarmerDave: I agree with your statement of the board always going off on a tangent. I think that what Trump is doing is, for lack of better words, putting Americas “Daddy” qualities ahead of Americas “Mommy” qualities. Is it better or worse than Obama who seemed to be the other way? Honestly it just comes down to, do you prefer Dads tough, take no Bull, I do what’s best for my family no matter what attitude OR do you prefer Moms caring, compassionate, and loving attitude. No right or wrong but balance seems best. Maybe we have gone to far to Mom side so the swing back to Dad will balance us out, I understand the concern that Dad won’t/ can’t stop, but that’s why Mom keeps him in check…#MAGA
Only time will tell but time has told us that Obama and Clinton/Kerry was a road to disaster. It’s time to take nukes away from the bad people who want to use them on us. It’s time to develop US energy resources and stop making towelheads into rich kings. It’s time to have things made in the US and it’s time for people to work and pay taxes, not live on welfare and vote to tax everyone else. We don’t have to pay for oil with blood, we have our own oil. We have to move deadheads away to allow us to use it. Oil has been the basis for much foreign policy and that is why Tillerson is a great choice. He understands oil and he understands governments. Neither Kerry or Clinton understood squat.
don’t waste your time making pie in the sky remarks here….
go to http://www.greatagain.gov website and give suggestions to make America better…..I did.
can’t wait to see the Stock Market break through the 20,000 points ceiling…