By Felicia Schwartz
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday he
hasn't contemplated resigning and praised President Donald Trump's
foreign policy, calling Mr. Trump "smart."
"I have never considered leaving this post," Mr. Tillerson
said.
Mr. Tillerson spoke in the State Department's Treaty Room to
deny longstanding rumors about his possible resignation after a
report Wednesday morning that he referred to Mr. Trump as a "moron"
and had to be talked out of quitting by Vice President Mike Pence
and others.
A former Exxon Corp. chief executive who had never served in
government before assuming his current job, Mr. Tillerson has had
public and private differences with Mr. Trump over key national
security issues, including the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the
administration's talks with North Korea, a dispute among Persian
Gulf countries, and the Paris climate accord.
But in an abruptly scheduled news conference, Mr. Tillerson said
that he supports Mr. Trump's "America first" approach to foreign
policy and extolled "what we have accomplished... as a team." He
said that suggestions to the contrary were an attempt to divide
administration officials.
Later Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that he has "total confidence"
in Mr. Tillerson.
Mr. Tillerson declined to specifically address an NBC report
that he referred to Mr. Trump as a moron, describing such talk as
"petty nonsense."
"While I'm new to Washington, I have learned there are some who
try to sow dissension to advance their own agenda by tearing others
apart in an effort to undermine president Trump's own agenda," Mr.
Tillerson said. "I'm just not going to be part of this effort to
divide this administration."
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said later that Mr.
Tillerson "did not use that type of language to speak about the
president of the United States."
Mr. Tillerson said he didn't consult with Mr. Trump before the
news conference, but Ms. Nauert said the two spoke afterward,
adding, "They're all good." She said the White House didn't ask Mr.
Tillerson to make a public statement, but that he opted to do it
because "it was the right thing to do."
In Mr. Tillerson's remarks, he lauded the administration agenda,
singling out Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, United Nations
Ambassador Nikki Haley and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for
particular praise.
Mr. Tillerson and Ms. Haley also have been at odds in recent
months, as Ms. Haley frequently hasn't consulted with Mr. Tillerson
before making public-policy statements, officials have said.
However, Mr. Tillerson has formed close relationships with Mr.
Mattis and Mr. Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly.
"I'm just thankful that he's still there," Sen. Bob Corker (R.,
Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said
of Mr. Tillerson. "I think Secretary Tillerson, Mattis, and [White
House Chief of Staff] Kelly are those people that help separate our
country from chaos."
Mr. Tillerson addressed a question on one policy area that has
proven divisive between he and Mr. Trump -- Iran. Mr. Trump faces
an Oct. 15 deadline to tell Congress whether Iran is complying with
the 2015 international nuclear agreement and whether the deal is in
the security interests of the U.S.
Mr. Trump has twice issued such a certification, which is
required every 90 days, but in July came close to saying otherwise,
agreeing to certification only after a heated administration
debate.
Mr. Trump told The Wall Street Journal shortly afterward that he
expected he would go against the recommendations of advisers if
necessary to withhold Iran's certification in October.
"We're going to give him a couple of options on how to move
forward to advance the important policy towards Iran," Mr.
Tillerson said Wednesday, adding the agreement "represents only a
small part of the many issues that we need to deal with when it
comes to the Iranian relationship."
Administration officials have gamed out various scenarios on the
nuclear deal, with some involving certification and others
involving de-certification. Some at the State Department would like
to see Congress amend the law that requires Mr. Trump to certify
Iran's compliance every 90 days.
Ms. Haley and Republican lawmakers such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R.,
Ark.), have proposed de-certifying Iran's compliance to send a
signal to other parties to the agreement -- the U.K., France,
Germany, China and Russia.
"The president should decline to certify....based on the long
catalogue of the regime's crimes and perfidy against the United
States as well as the deal's inherent flaws and weaknesses," Mr.
Cotton said Tuesday at a think tank in Washington. "The world needs
to know we're serious, we are willing to walk away, and we're
willing to reimpose sanctions and a lot more than that."
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 04, 2017 18:12 ET (22:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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