Tillerson, Don on ‘same’ wavelength

On Board Air Force One, Aug, 30: The White House on Tuesday downplayed talks of division among President Donald Trump’s advisers after secretary of state Rex Tillerson and economic adviser Gary Cohn appeared to criticise Mr Trump for his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In an interview on Fox News on Sunday over the weekend, Mr Tillerson said “the President speaks for himself ” when asked about Mr Trump’s values.

Mr Cohn, who was standing near the President in Trump Tower this month when he said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the demonstration that was sponsored by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, told the Financial Times in an interview that citizens standing up for freedom could never be equated with such groups.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that senior administration officials were not distancing themselves from the President despite the comments from Mr Tillerson and Mr Cohn.

She said Mr Trump’s relationship with Mr Tillerson was “very strong” and that Mr Cohn was committed to working on tax reform.

“I think that ... at moments you have people that disagree. I think that’s a healthy thing,” she told reporters on Air Force One.

Mr Tillerson’s comment was in response to a line of questioning about a United Nations committee issuing a warning to the United States about racism and hate crimes, saying US leaders had not sufficiently condemned white supremacy.

Mr Trump was widely criticised for his response in Charlottesville, in which he said “both sides” — white supremacists and those protesting them — were responsible for the clashes that left one woman dead.