President-elect
Donald Trump will nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state,
according to two sources close to the transition.
The sources warned
that nothing is official until the president-elect announces it, which is
likely to come over the next few days. Trump told Chris Wallace on “Fox News
Sunday” that he was “getting very, very close” to an official announcement.
Trump met with
Tillerson earlier this week, whose company is based in dozens of countries
across six continents and has business dealings in Russia, Yemen and other political
hot spots. A source close to Trump told Fox News on Friday that the
president-elect was impressed with Tillerson.
Trump spoke highly
of Tillerson on “Fox News Sunday,” saying that he was “much more than a
business executive.”
“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 many of the players-and he knows them well, he does
massive deals in Russia, he does massive deals-for the company, not for himself
for the company.”
Trump’s potential
Tillerson selection came under earlier Sunday as Sen. Marco Rubio and other GOP
senators raised concerns about his reported Russian ties. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that
Tillerson has close ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and other world
leaders.
Rubio posted a
thinly veiled warning about Tillerson on Twitter without mentioning him by
name.
Sen. John McCain,
R-Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told Fox News on Saturday
that Putin is a “thug” and while he doesn’t know the nature of Tillerson’s
relationship with the Russian leader, it’s a matter of concern.
Speaking Sunday with
CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” McCain said the Senate would give him a “fair
hearing” and noted Tillerson’s ties could be “strictly commercial.”
But he reiterated
that “it should be a matter of concern.” He voiced concern that Tillerson’s
relationship could “color his approach” toward Putin and the Russian threat.
The 64-year-old
Tillerson began his career at Exxon in 1975 as an engineer, rising through the
ranks and becoming president and director in 2004 and CEO two years later. He
was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, and studied civil engineering at University
of Texas.
House Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning
Futures” that Tillerson would be a “smart pick.”
Speaking on ABC
News’ “This Week,” incoming Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus also defended
Tillerson as an “incredible businessman and American patriot.”
While noting a
“conclusion has not been made,” he stressed that Tillerson is in the business
of finding oil around the world, and said “the fact that he actually has a
relationship with people like Vladimir Putin and others across the globe is
something that [we] shouldn't be ... embarrassed by.”
Asked about tough
questions from Republican senators, he said, “We don't have concerns about
confirmation.”
Should he become
America's top diplomat, he will have a pay cut and complicated financial
situation to sort out. Tillerson reportedly makes more than $40 million per
year and owns more than $100 million of stock in a company that has holdings
and dealings throughout the world.
Fox News was told
last week that former U.N. ambassador John Bolton and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,
who were also in the mix for secretary of state, were being considered for
deputy secretary.
Fox News’ Serafin
Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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