President-elect Donald J. Trump this morning officially selected ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state. In making the announcement, The New York Times reports the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant has a too-cozy relationship with Russia President Vladimir Putin.
A statement from Trump’s transition office early this morning brought to an end his public and chaotic deliberations over the nation’s top diplomat—a process that at times veered from rewarding Rudolph Giuliani, one of his most loyal supporters, to musing about whether Mitt Romney, one of his most vicious critics, might be forgiven.
Instead, Trump has decided to risk what looks to be a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate. In the past several days, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have warned that Tillerson will face intense scrutiny over his two-decade relationship with Russia, which awarded him its Order of Friendship in 2013, and with Putin.
The confirmation hearings will also put a focus on ExxonMobil’s business dealings with Moscow. The company has billions of dollars in oil contracts that can go forward only if the United States lifts sanctions against Russia, and Tillerson’s stake in Russia’s energy industry could create a very blurry line between his interests as an oilman and his role as America’s leading diplomat.
Tillerson, 64, has spent the past four decades at ExxonMobil, much of it in search of oil and gas agreements in troubled parts of the world. A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, he runs a company with operations in about 50 countries, and he has cut deals to expand business in Venezuela, Qatar, Kurdistan and elsewhere.
If confirmed as secretary of state, Tillerson will face a new challenge: nurturing alliances around the world that are built less on deals and more on diplomacy.
The New York Times has the full story.
