USA TODAY International Edition
Tillerson’s tense history with boss Trump
Reports of his pending ouster aren’t ‘laughable’
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claims that reports he’s being forced out by the White House are “laughable,” but it’s clear he and President Trump have disagreed publicly on multiple issues, and their relationship appears strained.
Here are some examples:
North Korea talks
In October, Trump went on Twitter to sneer at his top diplomat’s efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon to threaten the U.S.
“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump wrote. “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”
‘Moron’
Three days later, NBC News reported that Tillerson called Trump a “moron” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon and that he was so frustrated over policy disagreements that he was considering resigning from his post.
That day, the former ExxonMobil CEO called a press conference. He denied that he ever considered resigning but did not deny disparaging the president. “I’m not going to deal with petty stuff like that,” he said.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said he did not use “that type of language” to describe Trump, who called the report “fake news.”
Paris climate agreement
Tillerson was in favor of staying in the historic climate change agreement to curb global emissions, but Trump opted to pull out June 1.
Tillerson later told senators he still supported the accord and had pushed to keep the U.S. in it. “My view didn’t change,” he said June 13.
In September, Tillerson said U.S. participation in the Paris agreement could potentially resume under new terms.
“The president said he is open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue,” Tillerson told CBS’s Face the Nation.
Iran nuclear deal
Tillerson backed keeping the U.S. in the landmark 2015 agreement between Iran and the U.S. and five other world powers that was inked under former president Barack Obama.
On Oct. 13, Trump refused to certify that Iran was complying with the deal and left it in the hands of Congress.
Tillerson later told CNN that the U.S. is trying to stay in the deal, which Trump had blasted during the presidential campaign as an “embarrassment” and as “the worst deal ever negotiated.”
“We’re going to stay in,” Tillerson said Oct. 16. “We’re going to work with our European partners and allies to see if we can’t address these concerns.”
Jerusalem
Trump and his secretary of State have also spoken differently about whether to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Israeli capital that Palestinians also want for a capital of a future state.
Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September 2016 that, if elected, he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided capital.”
Tillerson said in May that Trump was considering “what impact would such a move have” on a peace initiative.