Donald Trump picks Rex Tillerson to lead State Department

In a statement, Trump called Tillerson an “embodiment of the American dream” and cited the oil executive’s “tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics”.

In choosing Mr Tillerson, Mr Trump passed over 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who had famously criticised the president-elect during the campaign this year.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who was also under consideration for the post, said in a statement that he would hold a nomination hearing in early January.

“Especially in light of mounting evidence that Russian Federation interfered in our election to aid President-elect Trump, it’s unthinkable that Mr. Tillerson should become our top diplomat”.

Trump has apparently canceled a news conference he had scheduled for Thursday when was expected to discuss his plan to leave his businesses when he becomes president.

“[Mr Tillerson] has actively assisted business cooperation and is known to everyone”, said Mr Ushakov.

Republicans and Democrats said Mr Tillerson would be asked about his contacts with Russian Federation, having met Mr Putin several times.

President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of state has experience negotiating with countries like Russia and will be willing to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘no, ‘ a Trump spokesman said Tuesday. The people close to his transition team insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the decision ahead of that announcement.

Senator John McCain, a leading foreign policy voice and 2008 Republican candidate for president, told Reuters in an interview: “I have concerns”.

But Trump sees Tillerson’s relationship with Moscow as a strong selling point. After all, negotiating is just one aspect of the job of secretary of state.

Asked whether Tillerson becoming secretary of state could help mend U.S.

“ExxonMobil is one of the few American oil companies that has managed to stay in Russian Federation through all kinds of political weather”.

But since the late 1990s, Tillerson managed Exxon’s account in Russian Federation – which has an economy largely based on its oil and natural gas riches. The agreement will be at the center of his confirmation hearing.

“I don’t know the man much at all, but let’s put it this way: If you received an award from the Kremlin, “the order of friendship, ‘ then we’re gonna have to do some talkin”, said fellow Republican senator Lindsay Graham. The deal has so far not yielded its promise.

The sanctions against Russian Federation, if they remain in place for an extended time, could threaten the joint venture with Rosneft, and in 2014 Tillerson urged Western leaders “to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions”.

Trump and aides floated Tillerson’s name throughout the weekend, in part to gauge the reaction of lawmakers.

Under current secretary of state John Kerry, the U.S. has taken a hawkish line on climate, sealing bilateral deals with China, India, Brazil and Canada, pushing hard for the 2015 Paris climate pact and sealing a United Nations agreement to curb the use of potent warming gases used in fridges.

Tillerson, 64, trained as a civil engineer, joined Exxon right after his graduation from the University of Texas at Austin and moved up through the corporate ranks over the next four decades.

His nomination will be greeted with dismay by climate activists and environmentalists who will see it as tantamount to a takeover of USA foreign policy by Big Oil.

Exxon has said it has acknowledged the reality of climate change for years. But Tillerson quietly adjusted the company’s position on the issue, according to Coll.