UPDATED: Tillerson vows to stay on amid tensions with Trump: 'I have never considered leaving...
Last edited Wed Oct 4, 2017, 11:49 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: The Washington Post
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vows to stay on amid tensions with Trump: ‘I have never considered leaving this post’
By Washington Post Staff October 4 at 11:12 AM
Asked to comment on reports that he'd called President Trump a "moron," Tillerson said "I'm not going to deal with petty points like that," and decried efforts to divide the administration.
The remarks come after months of disagreements between Tillerson and the White House over staffing and administrative matters at the State Department and a disconnect over what Trump saw as Tillerson’s conventional approach to policy matters.
Over the weekend, President Trump contradicted Tillerson on diplomatic relations with North Korea and its leader. Trump tweeted that the secretary of state was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man" — his nickname for North Korea's Kim Jong Un
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/04/secretary-of-state-rex-tillerson-vows-to-stay-on-amid-tensions-with-trump-i-have-never-considered-leaving-this-post/?utm_term=.944b25cad996
UPDATE:
Tillerson: I have 'never' considered resigning
The secretary of state does not, however, explicitly deny that he called Trump a 'moron,' as NBC reported.
By LOUIS NELSON 10/04/2017 11:10 AM EDT Updated 10/04/2017 11:26 AM EDT
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that he has never considered resigning his position, disputing an NBC News report that he was on the verge of such a move over the summer.
"The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post," Tillerson said in remarks delivered from the State Department.
Tillerson did not directly address whether he had called Trump a “moron,” as NBC reported. "We don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense,” he said when asked about the report.
“Let me tell you what I have learned about this president, whom I did not know before taking this office: He loves his country. He puts Americans and America first," the secretary of state and former ExxonMobil CEO said. "He's smart. He demands results wherever he goes and he holds those around him accountable for whether they've done the job he's asked them to do.”
Tillerson told reporters that he had not spoken to Trump Wednesday morning.
Shortly after Tillerson's statement, Trump tweeted, "The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!"
NBC News reported Wednesday that Tillerson had referred to Trump as a “moron” after a meeting at the Pentagon last July with members of the president’s national security team. Citing multiple unnamed sources, the network reported that the secretary of state was close to resigning in the wake of the president’s controversial, political speech at a Boy Scouts of America jamboree and only remained in his job after discussions with Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials.
more
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/04/tillerson-i-have-never-considered-resigning-as-secretary-of-state-243448
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