Pushing Tillerson Out?

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 Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident.

  NBC News

Well, he wasn't wrong about that. And I bet he hasn't changed his mind.

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.

[...]

Tillerson and Trump clashed over a series of key foreign policy issues over the summer, including Iran and Qatar. Trump chafed at Tillerson’s attempts to push him – privately and publicly – toward decisions that were at odds with his policy positions, according to officials.

[...]

Trump publicly undermined Tillerson in June over a dispute between Qatar and other Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Tillerson had called on the countries to ease their blockade of Qatar, yet just hours later Trump said the Saudi-led effort was necessary.

Tillerson also pushed Trump to certify in July that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal.

[...]

Tillerson also is seeking to use the implementation of arms deals Trump struck with Saudi Arabia and the UAE as leverage to prod the two countries to resolve the dispute with Qatar, according to U.S. and Arab officials.

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Tillerson has been at odds with Trump on other issues as well, arguing against sanctions on Venezuela and reportedly suggesting Israel return to the U.S. $75 million in aid.

[...]

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 Tillerson’s meetings with Pence.

[...]

Hammond said Tillerson has had no policy differences with Trump. “The president’s policy is his policy,” Hammond said.

So Tillerson's spokesman plays the same role as the president's: lie and pretend everything is peachy. 

Been seeing a lot of little digs and reports about Tillerson lately. That's been the pattern leading up to previous "resignations" in the Trump administration. Is Tillerson on the way out?

Asked whether the president still has confidence in Tillerson, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Monday that he does.

Yep. She's said that every time.

Trump has already seen an unusually high level of turnover in his administration, with the departures of his national security adviser, deputy national security adviser, his chief of staff, press secretary, communications director — twice — his chief strategist, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the acting head of the Justice Department. Last Friday Trump accepted the resignation of Tom Price, the Health and Human Services secretary.

He's draining the swamp.

Tillerson has clashed with the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

Pretty good indication Tillerson's on the chopping block. Maybe Kushner is the one leaking all this dirt.

Administration officials speculate that Tillerson would be succeeded by Haley if Tillerson were to depart.

Oh, God, no.

UPDATE:

Cry, baby, cry.

Tillerson is going to have to jump through some hoops now.


FURTHER UPDATE: