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Title: Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State (Bolton, Deputy SOS)
Source:
NBC News
URL Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/201 ... amed-trump-s-secretary-n694371
Published: Dec 10, 2016
Author: Andrea Mitchell
Post Date: 2016-12-10 17:05:38 by Hondo68
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Keywords: World War III, John Bolton, day-to-day management, donated to Gov. Jeb Bush
Views: 5786
Comments: 30
Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday. The 64-year-old veteran oil executive has no government or diplomatic experience, although he has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pick would put to rest weeks-long speculation of who would earn the post as the U.S.'s top diplomat, and would place Tillerson fourth in line to the presidency. He will also be paired with former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as his deputy secretary of state, one of the sources added, with Bolton handling day-to-day management of the department. The sources cautioned that nothing is final until the president-elect officially announces it, which could happen as early as next week. Tillerson, who was once dubbed "T.Rex" by Sarah Palin, met Saturday with Trump at Trump Tower in New York City, the president-elect's spokesperson confirmed. In a pre-taped interview set to air Sunday on Fox News, Trump discussed why a businessman such as Tillerson would be a good fit as America's chief diplomat. "Well, in his case, he's much more than a business executive, I mean he's a world-class player," Trump said, acknowledging Tillerson's relationship with Russia through his business dealings. "To me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well," Trump added. "He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company — not for himself, for the company." Trump spokesman Jason Miller said no official announcement on the secretary of state pick is expected until "next week at the earliest." Tillerson, of Wichita Falls, Texas, has already notified his corporate board about taking on the new role, sources told NBC News. He is set to retire from ExxonMobil next year since the company has a mandatory retirement age of 65, Reuters reported. He has never previously worked in government, but reportedly holds conservative political views. Tillerson has made tens of thousands of dollars worth of political donations over the past two decades to Republican groups and candidates, including to President George W. Bush and former Texas Gov. Jeb Bush, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group. The Wall Street Journal reported that Tillerson backed Jeb Bush during the GOP presidential primary and did not donate to Trump's campaign. Little is known about where he stands on foreign policy, and as secretary of state, he would have to hit the ground running on major issues. Among them: handling the nuclear agreement with Iran that the Obama administration made in 2015; the sanctions imposed on Russia; disputes with China and North Korea; the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria; and rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq. While he has spent his entire career in the energy sector, Tillerson does have experience dealing with foreign governments since ExxonMobil operates in more than 50 countries. He already has links to Putin as well, after representing the company's interests in Russia during the Boris Yeltsin administration. In 2013, the Kremlin bestowed the country's Order of Friendship honor on Tillerson. Related: 5 Things We've Learned From Trump's Cabinet Picks At an ExxonMobil shareholders' meeting in May 2014, Tillerson touched on his disapproval of sanctions. "We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensively and that's a very hard thing to do," he said, adding, "We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions." One of ExxonMobil's and Russia's biggest deals fell victim to the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in reaction to Russia invading Crimea in 2014. That deal to drill in the offshore Arctic Kara Sea oil field would have reportedly been worth $500 billion. But not every Republican has championed Tillerson. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told NBC News on Saturday he has concerns over Tillerson's ties with Russia and that it would be the subject of any Senate confirmation hearing. The news of the Tillerson pick comes less than a day after reports that the CIA concluded that Russian hackers did intervene in the U.S. presidential election to help Trump win over rival Hillary Clinton. In her book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," Palin went after him for how ExxonMobil handled the media attention and dialogue between the Alaskan government and the company over a proposed oil pipeline in her state. "We knew we were headed in the right direction when the threats from some oil industry players began — everything from nasty emails to multimillion-dollar ad campaigns. Though none of the Big Three oil companies wanted to move away from their relationships with the previous administration, ExxonMobil seemed particularly hostile," the former Alaska governor wrote. Tillerson's role and financial stake in ExxonMobil — the fifth-largest publicly traded company in the world with a $369 billion market cap — could open up cases of conflict of interest. His ExxonMobil shares are reportedly worth about $151 million. Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was on the short list and among the leading names of potential candidates for the post, and despite clashing with Trump on the campaign trail — even trading bitter barbs with one another — the pair seemed to reconcile. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also was reportedly in the running, although he said Friday he had taken his name out of consideration. Bolton, 68, had been floated as a possible secretary of state candidate as well. He was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006 under George W. Bush. While he is a self-described advocate of the Ronald Reagan foreign policy idea of "peace through strength," his hawkish stances have not been without controversy, and he was a vocal proponent of the war in Iraq. "We are confident that Saddam Hussein has hidden weapons of mass destruction and production facilities in Iraq," Bolton had said in 2002 while serving as George W. Bush's undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security. He continued to defend his position even after it was discovered that Iraq harbored no weapons of mass destruction. Poster Comment: 
Chairman and CEO of US oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, speaks during the 2015 Oil and Money conference in central London on Oct. 7, 2015. Ben Stansall / AFP/Getty Images 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
How can he possibly live up to the tradition set by Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary John Kerry?
Bolton can bridge the gap between Kerry, and Condi 'n the bushbots.
Yeah, Great choice Trump! < /SARCASM > Tillerson’s Assault on Scouting President-Elect Donald J. Trump recently announced he is considering Rex Tillerson to lead the State Department. Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil, was, among other things, the former head of the Boy Scouts of America and one of the people responsible for opening the BSA to homosexuals. It was Tillerson who lobbied to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the BSA. According to a Dallas News story: Tillerson was instrumental in lobbying the Scouts’ board to accept openly gay youths, said John Hammer, president of the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, of which Tillerson is a board member. "I can’t get into the intimacy of these conversations. But he agonized over this. He prayed on it, and ultimately he came to the conclusion the only thing that can guide him here is what’s best for the young boys,” he said. "I think he became a key leader in helping the group come to a consensus." Tillerson pushed the change at the meeting. “Most of the reasons that organizations fail at change is pretty simple,” he says. “People don’t understand why. They don’t understand the mission. They don’t understand what this means for them. They don’t understand their role.” Now, the most important job is to communicate with Scouting supporters back in each member’s home council, he says. Tillerson is a committed Christian, which would normally be a happy development. However, Tillerson is a member of the notoriously left-wing Congregationalists. It also appears that Tillerson is a globalist. In a speech to the globalist Council on Foreign Relations Tillerson stated: Should the United States seek so-called energy independence in an elusive effort to insulate this country from the impact of world events on the economy, or should Americans pursue the path of international engagement, seeking ways to better compete within the global market for energy? Like the Council's founders, I believe we must choose the course of greater international engagement... The central reality is this: The global free market for energy provides the most effective means of achieving U.S. energy security by promoting resource development, enabling diversification, multiplying our supply channels, encouraging efficiency, and spurring innovation. Sounds more like Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump, doesn't he? This, in many ways, explains Tillerson's support for opening the Boy Scouts to homosexuality. It is the international norm, and if he supports a largely borderless world, sacrifices in old-fashioned cultural norms are going to have to be made.
So what's your point? Are you concerned that Tillerson might allow gays into the State Department, too?
#9. To: misterwhite (#8)
Oh - I thought the Liberty Flame conventional wisdom is that gays are like, you know - BAD. Apparently the script has flipped and someone who was instrumental in forcing Boy Scouts to accept homosexuals is now the new poster boy for the Trump cultists and their quest to "Make America Great Again". Once again the apologists have sunk to a new low. His association with the CFR, his Bilderberg attendance and overall globalist, NWO viewpoint are all somewhat concerning. Oh - then there's THIS: It’s being reported that Trump has chosen Rex Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil CEO, for the Secretary of State position, although it hasn’t been officially announced yet. And this kinda odd, because Trump really ripped into Exxon Mobil in 2011, even going so far as to accuse them of colluding with the OPEC oil countries to screw us over. He even called the collusion worse than CHINA!! CHINA!!!! He called the OPEC-Exxon Mobil collusion an abuse worse than China!!! And yet now that he’s reportedly chosen him to be America’s top diplomat, he’s praising the “major deals” that Tillerson made leading Exxon Mobil. How does he square that with calling him such a great guy now?! I guess he doesn’t have to. His cult leader word is all some people need to hear. It’s just incredible. But no one cares. Words are meaningless and the past is destroyed every morning that Trump begins with his first tweet.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestThe 64-year-old veteran oil executive has no government or diplomatic experience, although he has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
#2. To: nolu chan, *The Two Parties ARE the Same* (#1)
How can he possibly live up to the tradition set by Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary John Kerry?
#7. To: hondo68, nolu chan, Gatlin, misterwhite, Roscoe, GrandIsland (#2)
Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State
#8. To: Deckard (#7)
Replies to Comment # 8. Are you concerned that Tillerson might allow gays into the State Department, too?
End Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
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