Tillerson visits Brussels amid doubts about his future, and his boss

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico-Europe




US secretary of state and EU foreign policy chief try to paper over cracks — and mostly fail.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN 12/5/17, 3:17 PM CET Updated 12/5/17, 4:12 PM CET

-snip-

As Tillerson arrived in Brussels for two days of talks with EU diplomats and NATO foreign ministers, the strains that Donald Trump’s presidency has put on the relationship between Washington and Europe were on stark display.

Trump still has not named an ambassador to the EU — a glaring vacancy that was highlighted when Tillerson stopped by the U.S. embassy briefly and spoke to the staff, in large part about cuts he is making to the State Department.

Trump’s general ambivalence about Europe is hardly a secret. He has bickered with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over military spending, flatly disregarded European leaders by withdrawing from the Paris climate change accords, irked his most important security allies, as well as China and Russia, by decertifying the Iran nuclear deal, and even offended Britain by re-tweeting anti-Muslim videos from a fringe, far-right U.K. political party, which drew a rare rebuke from Prime Minister Theresa May.

“Like any good relationship, this one requires a lot of attention” — Rex Tillerson
If Tillerson’s trip was intended to highlight the importance of U.S.-EU relationship, that goal was undercut by leaks from the White House that he is soon to be fired, and replaced by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, which emerged just two days after Tillerson gave a major speech in advance of his visit to Brussels.

Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/rex-tillerson-federica-mogherini-visits-brussels-amid-doubts-about-his-future-and-his-boss/

[old guy]

1. These talks are worthless IMO.

The diplomats involved do not trust the US any more thanks to tRump and they don't trust any of his phony mouthpieces either.

[Igel]

2. They certainly don't see a reason to deal with Tillerson seriously.

If only because of "leaks from the White House," aka "unsubstantiated reports in the press."

Now, if Trump's about to fire Tillerson and the reports weren't made, then they'd take him more seriously. As it is, it's not Trump that's undercut this trip, it's the leaks or, since the leaks were known to very few, the reports about the leaks.

If Trump doesn't fire Tillerson, then the damage was done for no cause except to score readership or hurt Trump. Of course, given the press, if Tillerson's fired in 2 years the press will say, "See, we told you about it back in 2017!"