Current Events > Rex Tillerson called Trump a moron; had to be talked out of resigning by Pence.

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https://t.co/6CBlWDoaF4

WASHINGTON Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time.

The tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led, the officials said.

Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a moron, after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trumps national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident.

While it's unclear if he was aware of the incident, Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump, and other top administration officials urged him to remain in the job at least until the end of the year, officials said.

Officials said that the administration, beset then by a series of high-level firings and resignations, would have struggled to manage the fallout from a Cabinet secretary of his stature departing within the first year of Trumps presidency.

Pence has since spoken to Tillerson about being respectful of the president in meetings and in public, urging that any disagreements be sorted out privately, a White House official said. The official said progress has since been made.

Yet the disputes have not abated. This weekend, tensions spilled out into the open once again when the president seemed to publicly chide Tillerson on his handling of the crisis with North Korea.

NBC News spoke with a dozen current and former senior administration officials for this article, as well as others who are close to the president.

Tillerson, who was in Texas for his sons wedding in late July when Trump addressed the Boy Scouts, had threatened not to return to Washington, according to three people with direct knowledge of the threats. His discussions with retired Gen. John Kelly, who would soon be named Trumps second chief of staff, and Defense Secretary James Mattis, helped initially to reassure him, four people with direct knowledge of the exchanges said.

After Tillersons return to Washington, Pence arranged a meeting with him, according to three officials. During the meeting, Pence gave Tillerson a pep talk, one of these officials said, but also had a message: the secretary needed to figure out how to move forward within Trumps policy framework.

Kelly and Mattis have been Tillersons strongest allies in the cabinet. In late July, they did beg him to stay, a senior administration official said. They just wanted stability.

At that time, however, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert responded to speculation that Tillerson was thinking about resigning by saying he was committed to staying and was just taking a little time off in Texas.

Tillerson's top State Department spokesman, R.C. Hammond, said Tillerson did not consider quitting this past summer. He denied that Tillerson called Trump a moron. Hammond said he was unaware of the details of Tillersons meetings with Pence.

Hammond said he knew of only one time when the two men discussed topics other than policy: A meeting where Pence asked Tillerson if he thought Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was helpful to the administration, or if he was worried about the role she was playing. He added that whenever the vice president gives advice on how processes could run more smoothly, the advice is a good thing.

Hammond also said that he wouldnt characterize the secretarys conversations with Mattis or Kelly as attempts to convince Tillerson to stay in his position.

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So Trump is a moron and is trying to prevent the entire administration from unraveling.

Whats new?
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Lol this administration is so bad.
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Y'know, at the start of this whole fucking dumpster fire, I never thought I'd be saying that the former Big Oil tycoon with no prior diplomatic experience is the reasonable adult in the room.
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Who would have thought this oil company shill would become my favorite part of this administration?
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Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump

"Sit down, shut up, stay out of his way"
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We all know Trump is a moron. The question is why are Tillerson, Matthis, Kelly, Pence allowing it? Aren't they putting the country in danger by doing nothing? By letting this fool stay in office they are giving him every opportunity to create mayhem... and they actually have the ability to remove him from office. If they think Trump is going to change then maybe they're as moronic as he is.
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i'm confused, would you have them murder trump in the oval office on some "et tu, brute?" type shit?
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utarefson posted...

We all know Trump is a moron. The question is why are Tillerson, Matthis, Kelly, Pence allowing it? Aren't they putting the country in danger by doing nothing? By letting this fool stay in office they are giving him every opportunity to create mayhem... and they actually have the ability to remove him from office. If they think Trump is going to change then maybe they're as moronic as he is.

they don't give a shit about the country. they just want to keep their positions
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But how can he be a moron if he is President? Checkmate liberals. Stop it with your unpatriotic anthem kneeling.
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The Trent posted...

i'm confused, would you have them murder trump in the oval office on some "et tu, brute?" type shit?

*Game of Thrones spoilers*

I pictured something like this


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tbh I'd rather have Tillerson there. Who knows what psycho Trump will replace him with

_Near_ posted...

utarefson posted...

We all know Trump is a moron. The question is why are Tillerson, Matthis, Kelly, Pence allowing it? Aren't they putting the country in danger by doing nothing? By letting this fool stay in office they are giving him every opportunity to create mayhem... and they actually have the ability to remove him from office. If they think Trump is going to change then maybe they're as moronic as he is.

they don't give a shit about the country. they just want to keep their positions

But yes sadly this. They are all motivated primarily by selfishness.
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was going to post this but i am a good CEman and used the search bar.

Trump is such a fucking joke lmfao
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Trump: I'm in charge here!
Pence: Do you feel in charge?
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DanHarenChamp posted...

So Trump is a moron and is trying to prevent the entire administration from unraveling.

No, Trump is a moron and everyone around him is trying to prevent him from unraveling his own administration.
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Doom_Art posted...

Y'know, at the start of this whole fucking dumpster fire, I never thought I'd be saying that the former Big Oil tycoon with no prior diplomatic experience is the reasonable adult in the room.

I mean, Exxon essentially has its own state department. I always thought he was a good pick. It's probably very difficult to do his job with Trump as president, though.
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leverageblargh posted...

Who names their child Rex

To be fair it is Latin for King.
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tillerson will be making an impromptu statement soon. maybe he's gonna quit?
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cellus523 posted...

leverageblargh posted...

Who names their child Rex

To be fair it is Latin for King.

his dad was high up in the boy scouts of america

dunno why but that all makes sense to me
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Fake news

https://twitter.com/ap/status/915593278418014210
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The Trent posted...

i'm confused, would you have them murder trump in the oval office on some "et tu, brute?" type shit?

25th amendment
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Tillerson gets fucked over by trump everytime he tries to do things trump is an idiot
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https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnhudson/tillerson?utm_term=.myokPKr587#.qr4bkXK0NO

One US official expressed confidence in Tillerson's status due to a so-called "suicide pact" forged between Defense Secretary James Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Tillerson, whereby all three cabinet secretaries vow to leave in the event that the president makes moves against one of them.

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DanHarenChamp posted...

So Trump is a moron and is trying to prevent the entire administration from unraveling.

Whats new?

trumpeters would have you believe everythings maga
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