‘Tillerson didn’t call Trump moron’

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared on Wednesday he never considered resigning as President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, disputing what he called “erroneous” reports that he wanted to step down earlier this year.

After pointedly refusing to answer if he called the president a “moron”, Tillerson had a spokesperson deny he used such language.

Thrust into the spotlight under uncomfortable circumstances, the normally camera-shy Tillerson sought to rebut a widely disseminated NBC News story that claimed Vice President Mike Pence had to talk the former oil man out of resigning over the summer, and that Tillerson had questioned Trump’s intelligence.

The explosive claims followed several instances in which Trump and Tillerson’s policy pronouncements have appeared to clash. “There has never been a consideration in my mind to leave,” Tillerson said in an unusually personal address from the State Department’s staid 7th-floor Treaty Room outside of his office.

From Las Vegas, where he travelled to meet with medical personnel and others affected by the mass shooting there, Trump told reporters he has “total confidence” in Tillerson. Earlier, Trump denounced the report as “fake news” on Twitter.

Trump has at times appeared to undercut Tillerson’s message on some of America’s most sensitive national security challenges, including Iran and North Korea.

Tillerson also has publicly complained about the White House blocking him from making key appointments. — AFP