Donald Trump Picks Rex Tillerson As Secretary Of State
MEP: President-elect Donald Trump has formally announced Rex Tillerson, Exxon-Mobil chairman and chief executive, as his secretary of state, a transition official said Monday.
According to the New York Times, citing “people familiar with the president-elect’s final choice”, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, retired General David Petraeus and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee all have been told over the phone that they were being passed over in favour of Tillerson.
A statement from Mr. Trump’s transition office early Tuesday brought to an end his public and chaotic deliberations over the nation’s top diplomat — a process that at times veered from rewarding Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of his most loyal supporters, to musing about whether Mitt Romney, one of his most outspoken critics, might be forgiven.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/808638507161882624
Mr. Tillerson was a comparatively late entry in the secretary of state competition, but he impressed the president-elect as a successful deal-maker in what one transition aide called the “Trumpian” mold.
Mr Tillerson is said to have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, alarming both Democrats and some Republicans. The nomination however needs Senate approval.
The billionaire Mr Trump said that as the nation’s top diplomat, Tillerson would be a “a world-class leader” working on behalf of the American people.
One of the finalists, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, wrote a message on Facebook that suggested he was out of the running.
Mr. Romney wrote: “It was an honor to have been considered for secretary of state of our great country.”
