Trump ‘jokes’ about IQ test
Dares Tillerson to compare scores after ‘moron’ comment
Donald Trump’s feud with top diplomat Rex Tillerson burst back into the open Tuesday, after the US president joked that he and his secretary of state should compare IQ scores.
Having loudly dismissed reports that Tillerson had once called him a “moron,” Trump refused to let the controversy go, renewing questions about Tillerson’s future.
In an interview with Forbes magazine, Trump was asked about last week’s report that Tillerson had insulted him behind his back – a story that both had already denied.
“I think it’s fake news,” Trump said, before allowing: “But if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”
The interview was published hours before the two men met in the White House for talks on Iran, Turkey and North Korea and then lunch with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Ahead of the sit-down, Trump had insisted he still had confidence in the secretary of state, saying, “I did not undercut anybody. I don’t believe in undercutting people.”
But White House insiders say that Tillerson’s refusal to personally deny an NBC News report that he labelled Trump a “moron” after a July meeting had only deepened the rift.
After the meetings, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted there was no rift between the men – and that Trump does not think Tillerson stupid.
“The President certainly never implied that the secretary of state was not incredibly intelligent. He made a joke, nothing more than that,” Sanders insisted.
“He has full confidence in the secretary of state. They had a great visit earlier today. And they are working hand in hand to move the president’s agenda forward.”
At the State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert declared when asked that Tillerson’s IQ was “high” but insisted that the top diplomat had not been offended.
“Speaking with some of our folks who were over there with the secretary and the president. The meetings were described as positive,” Nauert said.
“I think the president is allowed to joke. He’s allowed to have a sense of humor … the secretary is more than fine with that,” she said of Trump’s remarks about IQ.