Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson Picked for Secretary of State
Tillerson may face harsh confirmation hearings due to connections to Russia.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state. Trump said:
“His tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics make him an excellent choice for Secretary of State,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “He will promote regional stability and focus on the core national security interests of the United States. Rex knows how to manage a global enterprise, which is crucial to running a successful State Department, and his relationships with leaders all over the world are second to none.
On Sunday, Trump told Chris Wallace:
Trump spoke highly of Tillerson on “Fox News Sunday,” saying that he was “much more than a business executive.”
“He’s in charge of an oil company that’s pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. “It’s been a company that’s been unbelievably managed-and to me a great advantage is he knows many of the players-and he knows them well, he does massive deals in Russia, he does massive deals-for the company, not for himself for the company.”
Trump wanted to fill the position “with an international businessman” and prefers his Cabinet filled “with generals, the business elite and the extremely successful.” He told those close to him he “likes how Tillerson projects success and gravitas from running a massive global corporation, according to a person not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.”
But Tillerson may face harsh confirmation hearings due to his ties to Russia. Exxon has enjoyed many contracts with Rosneft, Russia’s top gas company, but “has lost more than $1 billion due to the sanctions the United States imposed on Russia.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted:
Being a “friend of Vladimir” is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState – MR
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 11, 2016
In a statement on Tuesday morning, Rubio promised a fair hearing for Tillerson:
“While Rex Tillerson is a respected businessman, I have serious concerns about his nomination,” Rubio said in a statement. “The next secretary of state must be someone who views the world with moral clarity, is free of potential conflicts of interest, has a clear sense of America’s interests, and will be a forceful advocate for America’s foreign policy goals to the president, within the administration, and on the world stage.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called Putin a “thug” and said Tillerson’s friendship with the Russian president is “a matter of concern,” but admitted he does not know the extent of the relationship. Russia did give Tillerson the Order of friendship, “which is given to foreign citizens for ‘special merits in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between peoples'” and to those who have made a “‘great contribution’ to ‘large-scale economic projects’ in Russia.”
However, Tillerson has received support from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. The transition team said Gates actually suggested Tillerson to Trump for the position:
“[Tillerson] would bring to the position vast knowledge, experience and success in dealing with dozens of governments and leaders in every corner of the world,” said a statement from Gates, which did not cite any specific countries.
Tillerson was born in Wichita Falls, TX, and attended the University of Texas where he studied civil engineering. He started at Exxon in 1975 as an engineer and worked up the ladder to become CEO. He makes around $40 million a year and owns over $100 million in stocks.
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Comments
Tillerson believes in man-caused gorebal climate thingy.
He thinks it can be “managed”. Who by, and at what cost?
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/business/2012/06/27/bloomberg-exxon-ceo-rex-tillerson-calls-effects-of-global-warming-manageable
Personally, I could never be BFF with ol’ Vlad, who is a KGB murderer and enemy of the West, but that’s just me…
Plus, doesn’t Exxonmobil employ scads of people who are not Americans?
I laugh…!!!
But he has successfully negotiated with Russia and most of the Arab World. Plus, if you are going to drain the swamp you need someone who can build dykes and hunt alligators.
Iran has successfully negotiated with Russia and most of the world, too.
Tillerson came out in favor of a carbon tax. Did you know that?
OK with you?
Fine w/me, as it has a snowflake’s chance in hell of happening.
What’s interesting is you haven’t the snap to understand it is exponentially MORE likely under T-rump.
Wow.
Which explains Trump’s many expressions of support for a Carbon tax, along with the same from Trump’s nominee for the EPA & who he’s looking at for the Energy Dept. (/sarc off)
Wow, indeed.
“…it is exponentially MORE likely under T-rump.”
More “wisdom” from a person that has been wrong every single time.
“I laugh…!!!”
the men with the white jackets are on the way
Not a huge fan of this selection, by my objections are tempered by my ignorance. I guess if you elect a president whose foreign policy strategy isn’t fully formed, you get… this.
And perhaps, after an election polluted by the likes of David Brock and his Correct the Record shills, you get … this.
Quick, someone check and see if this guy has either paid for this nomination or runs his own home brew email server!!!
” Tillerson may face harsh confirmation hearings due to connections to Russia. ”
It seems that taking the 5th during questioning/hearings is kind of the “in” thing to do nowadays.
I don’t know much about Tillerson but using the McCain/Graham barometer I just might be for him.
Hey McCain! Get a job or retire already Old Man! Go live in one of your 7 homes, you 1%er that’s taken every capitalistic political advantage as well as marrying wealth!
…because being a business executive with experience in dealing with all the forms of government on the planet, including Russia, is somehow a drawback for a Secretary of State.
Meanwhile, over at Wikipedia, there has been a skirmish over the contents of this man’s biography. Some interested souls decided to delete everything about this man, except his connections to Russia, and somebody else captured it in screenshots, safely tucked away for eternity.
Just go here:
https://infogalactic.com/info/Rex_Tillerson
Wikipedia is 100% pwned by SJWs, but it’s already been forked by Infogalactic where they can’t memory hole anything. 🙂
Cautiously Optimistic about Tillerson.
The state department has gone rogue too many times. During the Bush administration, it was common for State to leak dirt to the press every time the president didn’t pick the exact policy that whatever bureaucrat wanted. Today’s no facts CIA Russian scandal is more of the same.
Then the State department covered for the crimes of the Clinton foundation.
So, heads need to roll, and no insider can do the job.
Tillerson was highly competent as a corporate executive, and he knows all the players in the oil world. Plus, he’s go to Bolton backing him up as #2.
Tyrant Obama the Liar appointed Hillary as SoS. Trump appointed Tillerson. Hillary has almost no accomplishments that she didn’t achieve from marrying BJ Clinton. Tillerson is the successfully head of a huge international corporation. The differences is bodes well for Trump and our country.
Hillary has lots of accomplishments
She dodged sniper fire in bosnia
She has gotten rich with her pay for play
She brought a very stable – pro USA regime to Libya,
She accomplished “It was the video” for the top fake news story
She supported the Muslim brotherhood Arab spring in Egypt.
The list goes on and on
We should be proud of her
(sarc)
Tillerson runs a juuuge international corporation which is bigger than the US Government. Tillerson runs a juuge international corporation that has operations in virtually every country on the globe.
Just guessing, but Tillerson probably has more foreign policy experience than the last two SOS’s combined and certainly a more positive foreign policy accomplishments. Unless you count the neville chamberlian/obama Iran Nuclear surrender deal as an accomplishment
I dunno where you get your “facts”, but Exxon employs a fraction of the Federal work force, and buying and selling oil and natural gas is NOT “foreign policy”. If fact, it often runs counter to American interests in many places.
Cripes….
Exxon certainly has more employees than the U.S. State Department and has operations in more countries than the State Department.
Selling oil & gas to foreign countries “often runs counter to American interests”? Care to provide one or two examples of “facts” that support that?
Look up Iraq, Saddam, sanctions violations.
See also Iran, sanctions violations.
I looked up Iran, Iraq, Saddam & sanctions violations & could find no connection to either Exxon or Tillerson.
What does Iraq or Iran violating sanctions have to do w/Exxon improving the U.S. balance of trade by selling oil to foreign countries?
Icepilot, you’re dealing with clinical insanity with old Rags. Bat him around like the cat toy he is and ignore him when you get bored.
Was Exxon selling US oil to foreign counties? Or was it the other way around?
That’s just a lie. As is pretty much anything that the T-rumpian turd swirl of slavering cultist say.
Marco Rubio’s comments prove once again why he should not have been nominated for President.
The main job of the State Department is to advance the interests of the USA outside of her borders, without the nation having to resort to armed action. This is usually achieved by making deals with foreign powers. And, in that role, a businessman with extensive experience in dealing with foreign cultures is a good fit.
Foreign policy is ultimately conceived by the President, with the concurrence of a majority of Congress, and the President, through the use of assets at his disposal [State, Defense, etc.], implements actions to achieve those foreign policy goals. The idea is to obtain the most favorable results for the USA, while not having to resort to armed actions, which are very costly and disruptive to order and commerce.
The thing to remember about Russia, is that it is not a monolith controlled by a single individual or small group of like minded individuals. Like the US, it is composed of a number of power blocs which have differing aims and objectives. One of these blocs has the objective of increasing Russian prestige and international power. And, the current President and his administration have created a low pressure are in the realm of world power. And, this Russian power bloc has taken advantage of this. The bad think about the actions, taken by Russia, is that sooner or later, the military hawks, emboldened by their successes, will cross the Rubicon, with regard to the interests of the US. At that point, armed conflict between the USA and Russia becomes very likely. And, if it occurs, this could throw both parties into general armed conflict; war.
At the moment, this line appears distant, as the Obama administration has not indicated where it might be. If the Trump administration can clearly define this line at a point which Russia can justify recognizing, then the situation will stabilize. Neither country wants war. And, if the Russian leadership have a way to justify reining in their hawks, or for the hawks to justify stepping back themselves, war is avoided and both sides win. That is what Trump and the State Department have to SELL to the Russians. And, most of the Russian leadership is looking for a way to buy it.
China is a similar story, but the big stick, possessed by the US, in that conflict is economic. And, the diplomatic sale there lends itself well to a department which is run by a businessman.
And given how badly Russia is being smeared in this latest Dem coup attempt, perhaps having someone who the Russians know and trust may not be a bad idea.
Trump is “making friends” w/Putin & nominating Tillerson because when he unleashes America’s energy economy, Russia will be bankrupt (along with a demographic death spiral). Trump is pulling an anti-Nixon – getting closer to Russia as a counter-balance to China, who he sees as the real, potential, longer term threat.
May I comment? Why is the de Rigueur position that we’re supposed to dislike and suspect the Russians?
I believe I am somewhat qualified to speak on Putin, Russia, and the Russian people. I have spent A LOT of time in Russia, in Moscow and about 30+ other locations and cities. Some once, others many times. I’ve been in the North, West, Siberia, Far East and etc. I’ve met many Russians, some just folk, and others business leaders and ranking military professionals.
First and foremost, Russians are not Americans. They are not Soviets either. They do not think or act like us and something that seems obvious and sensible to us may not be so to them. This is not a criticism, it is an observation. Many times during negotiations, a lot of time was spent in trying to understand why they said no when, to us, the most obvious answer was yes. After understanding each other we didn’t necessarily change our position and they didn’t necessarily change theirs however after many days with private discussions on either side, we met again came to an agreement and continued on.
They are well educated and hardworking (when they have something to work hard at). Also, they are, in general when you get to know them, kind, gentle, and decent folk. They love their country as much as we love ours.
With all of that said, there is more that unites us than divides us. Their government, after almost 100 years of commie and oligarch rule, still does not trust the West and this is one of the reasons Putin does what he does. They do not come from a group of founders such as Jefferson and Adams etc. who believed in the value of the individual and their basic God-given rights. This doesn’t mean they’re bad people but it colors their beliefs. They believe the U.S. is what we are because of money.
The first order of business with Mr. Tillerson and Russia would be to send someone over there who isn’t interested in hob-nobbing and clinking glasses but in doing the hard work of working with and showing Putin that it is not necessary for Russia and the U.S. to be enemies/foes/competitors or anything of the like.
I am not necessarily a Putin fan and I’m not a commie-lover but, as I said, I spent a lot of time there, maybe around 90/year for several years. I was a Cold War Soldier and spent my time staring across the Fulda Gap at the Soviets just in case. I never in a billion years thought that I’d actually be in Red Square let alone so many other places.
They’re good people and put up with things that the average American would never think of simply because we don’t have to.
I may be misreading your comments, but my sense is that Tillerson would bring geo political and business understanding to State, without nearly as much partisan narrow world view that the typical republican or Democrat would bring to the table.
Joe, I don’t know if you are not understanding me, my point was that Russia and the Russians (including Mr. Putin) are not bad people. That was my experience from spending so much time over there.
It is sort of like looking at our founding fathers only through the lens of “Slave Owners” and thinking we know all about them.
Most people still think of Russians only through the lens of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. If someone “likes” or “knows” Putin, or says something positive about Russia, the media and the Liberals would have us gasp and hie to our fainting couches calling for the smelling salts. I’m just saying I don’t believe it needs to be like that.
I see this as a real possibility to sort of clear the air and really get things going with our new friends, the Russians.
There’ve been a couple three nominations where the candidate is, to a conservative, strong on an issue or two, but also quite liberal in others.
We can’t really know what it means until the train leaves the station January 20th, and we see if Trump is a micromanager who dictates everything to Cabinet members and other political appointees, or if he’s more.. what, trusting? hands off?.. and gives staff some leeway to freestyle. Could be Trump fires the first appointee who steps off the plantation. Could be Trump loses control of his own appointees, anything’s possible. There will definitely be forks in the road and the possibility Trump or an appointee chooses badly.
I’m sorry, I’m tired as a one-legged man on a pogo stick, so that’s all the mixed metaphors I can work up at the moment.