It appears that Donald Trump hasn’t actually been able to stop every former member of his team from talking to Congress. In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to talk about his time working for Trump. Among the things that Tillerson had to tell the representatives was that Vladimir Putin showed up to a meeting with Trump so much better prepared that it put the United States at a disadvantage.
According to CNN, Tillerson also came prepared, in that he made a deal with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel that his testimony wouldn’t be released before he agreed to testify. But enough of what the former secretary of state had to tell Congress made it past those closed doors that it has already triggered Trump to issue a series of Tillerson put-downs.
The history of Trump tweets about Rex Tillerson has all the hallmarks of a bad break-up song.
- Dec 11, 2016—“Rex Tillerson ... is a world class player and dealmaker.”
- Dec 13, 2016—“I have chosen one of the truly great business leaders of the world, Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, to be Secretary of State. The thing I like best about Rex Tillerson is that he has vast experience at dealing successfully with all types of foreign governments.”
- Dec 1, 2017—“The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS!”
- Mar 13, 2018—“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!”
- Dec 7, 2018—“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell.”
- May 23, 2019—“Rex Tillerson, a man who is ‘dumb as a rock’ and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany. I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!”
Oh, yeah, just look at how America is challenging Russia in … in … something.
Republicans have been calling for the release of some of Tillerson’s statements because, they say, "Contrary to media reports, Secretary Tillerson made clear that 2016 Russian election interference was raised clearly at the highest levels with Vladimir Putin and the Russian government.” Meaning that Tillerson raised it, not Trump.
Also included in Tillerson’s testimony were frequent mentions of Trump’s Very Special Adviser Jared Kushner, who wandered into foreign affairs with neither a clue nor a plan. And he conducted his own deals with Saudi Arabia and others without bothering to involve the State Department and without any concern over whether what was good for Jared was good for the country.
But a Republican staffer was quick to explain that this is all peachy. “Regarding Kushner, every single administration is entitled to choose and seek counsel from their own advisers.” Sure. And it’s not at all unusual to have someone who is a billion dollars in the hole going hand out to Middle Eastern dictators, offering up classified information, and conducting off-the-books foreign policy.
However, given that Trump only hires the best people, Kushner must be a genius. Just like Rex Tillerson, the world-class player and dealmaker who is one of the truly great business leaders of the world, with vast experience at dealing successfully with all types of foreign governments, and who didn’t have the mental capacity needed and was as dumb as a rock and lazy as hell.
Just think, Mike Pompeo, what tweets you have in your future!
