Trump expected to tap Exxon’s Rex Tillerson for secretary of state post

Chairman and CEO of U.S. oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, speaks during the 2015 Oil and Money conference in central London on October 7, 2015.

Tillerson’s appointment comes as a surprise after Donald Trump quietly withdrew several key names from the race.

“In Kurdistan, during the Obama Administration, Tillerson defied State Department policy and cut an independent oil deal with the Kurdish Regional Government, undermining the national Iraqi government in Baghdad”. The Wall Street Journal noted that Mr Tillerson supports free trade – which, as a CEO of a major global corporation, is probably a natural position. He was referring to the deals Tillerson’s multinational oil and gas corporation has made with the Russian government, which helped him earn Russia’s 2013 Order of Friendship, one of the highest honors a foreigner can receive there.

A top adviser to Donald Trump said the president-elect “hit it off” with his choice for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.

If confirmed, Tillerson would face immediate challenges in Syria, where a civil war rages, and in China, given Trump’s recent suggestions that he could take a more aggressive approach to dealing with Beijing. It was their second meeting about the position this week.

Mr Tillerson has no experience in the public sector, a first in modern history for a potential secretary of state.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller said no official announcement on the secretary of state pick is expected until “next week at the earliest”.

Tillerson is facing criticism from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress for his ties to Russian Federation through his business dealing as the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. Experts say that if they remain in the long term, the sanctions could affect Exxon’s joint venture with Russia’s state oil company. Tillerson may be a friend of Putin’s, but he’s no friend of the planet. Once Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the United States instituted sanctions against Russia that froze ExxonMobil’s Arctic agreement.

Reince Priebus, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, said Tuesday that Tillerson was chosen because he is “a diplomat that happens to be able to drill oil”. “He’s in charge of an oil company that’s pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor”. With over 75,000 employees, Exxon is also regarded as one of the world’s best-managed companies. He’s in charge of an oil company that’s pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor, it’s been a company that’s been unbelievably managed, and to me a great advantage is he knows numerous players, and he knows them well.

In 2012, Tillerson told the Council on Foreign Relations that the USA should focus on the reliability of energy over the potential concerns of foreign countries producing energy consumed by Americans.

“I’m concerned about his relationship with Vladimir Putin”, McCain told Fox News, referring to Putin as a “thug” and a “murderer”.

Tillerson joined Exxon in 1975 as a production engineer and served as the company’s senior vice president and president before being elected chairman and chief executive in 2006.

Should Tillerson be nominated, climate change could be another controversial issue for him.

On the home front, Woods will have to confront allegations by attorneys general from New York, Massachusetts and other states that Exxon misled investors about the threat posed to the company’s portfolio by climate change. Tillerson’s heir apparent, Darren Woods, was put in place a year ago, so there would be virtually no additional disruption to Exxon’s succession plans if Tillerson were to become secretary of state.