Tillerson says he never considered quitting
Secretary of state won’t deny he called president a moron, refers to reports as ‘petty’
WASHINGTON— Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted on Wednesday that he has never considered resigning, despite what associates have described as deep frustration. But he did not deny a report that he has grown so disenchanted with President Trump that he once referred to him as a “moron.”
Just three days after Trump publicly undercut Tillerson by dismissing efforts to reach out to North Korea, the secretary of state abruptly summoned reporters to reaffirm his loyalty to the president and dispute a report by NBC News that he had been prepared to step down over the summer until counselled by Vice-President Mike Pence.
“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.
But he did not contest other elements of the article, including an episode when he was said to have called Trump a “moron” after a meeting at the Pentagon with other national security officials last summer.
“I’m not going to deal with petty stuff like that,” he replied when asked specifically if he had assigned that label to the president.
The extraordinary spectacle of the secretary of state denying plans to resign was the latest rupture in an administration that has been consumed by palace intrigue from the start. Just last week, Tom Price resigned as secretary of health and human services after being publicly scolded by Trump for his use of chartered flights. Trump has lost a string of top officials, including a chief of staff, a national security adviser, a chief strategist, a press secretary and two communications directors. He has fired the FBI director, belittled his attorney general and criticized the deputy attorney general.
The White House offered a tepid endorsement of Tillerson after his statement. “As we’ve said many times before, if the president doesn’t have confidence in somebody, they will no longer be in their position,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.
Trump, speaking with reporters in Las Vegas, where he was visiting victims of this week’s mass shooting, dismissed the report that Tillerson considered resignation.
“It was fake news,” he said. “It’s a totally phoney story.”
At a briefing in Washington, Heather Nauert, the State Department spokesperson, said Tillerson was not asked to speak to the media but chose to do so on his own. She said he spoke with Trump after making his statement and later reported to her that “it was a good conversation.”
Asked why Tillerson did not deny using the word “moron,” Nauert denied it for him. “The secretary did not use that type of language to speak about the president of the United States,” she said. “He does not use that language to speak about anyone.” Pressed, she said flatly, “He did not say that.”
Even as Tillerson denied a rift on Wednesday, he alluded to significant differences over North Korea and Iran. He stressed the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the nuclear dispute with North Korea and associated himself with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who just a day earlier endorsed retaining the nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump has threatened to rip up. He praised Mattis as a “secretary of defence who embraces diplomacy” and noted that they speak nearly every day.
Over the weekend, Tillerson told reporters travelling with him to China that he had been exploring the possibility of talks with North Korea through two or three channels. Trump was described by advisers as livid and publicly undercut the secretary of state on Twitter by telling him he was “wasting his time,” adding, “Save your energy, Rex.”