A number of US media have reported that US President-Elect Donald Trump is going to appoint as secretary of state ExxonMobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson, who is known for his close ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The news spread around the world at once and several British publications devoted articles to Tillerson, the most likely candidate for the position of secretary of state.
For example, Daily Mail recalled that former Governor of Alaska and US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin once nicknamed the oil tycoon “T Rex,” or “tyrannosaurus.”
According to the British publication, 64-year-old Tillerson was recommended as prospective chief of the Department of State by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who had served as consultants of ExxonMobil.
Meanwhile, The Financial Times noted that Tillerson had no diplomatic and foreign policy experience, but was described as a tough, uncompromising, highly competent, and extremely effective manager and negotiator.
“What Donald Trump has shown he wants to do is hire smart, hard people, and Rex Tillerson fits this bill,” Robin West of the international consulting firm Boston Consulting Group was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
And, indeed, in an interview with Fox News Sunday Trump himself described Tillerson as follows: “He is much more than a business executive. I mean, he is a world-class player. He is in charge of, I guess the largest company in the world. He is in charge of an oil company that’s pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. 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.”
This was the response of the US president-elect to the question: “Why does ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson make sense as the chief diplomat?”
Another British publication, The Times, devoted to Tillerson an article entitled “‘Putin friend’ to control US foreign policy.” Calling Tillerson “a corporate titan with close links to President Putin,” the publication wrote that the oil tycoon met Putin for the first time in 1999 and Russia awarded him the Order of Friendship, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 2013.
As head of ExxonMobil, Tillerson publicly opposed sanctions on Russia. The company is known to have lost a billion dollars because of them.
But at the same time, The Times remarked, “in 2007, when Russia pushed Royal Dutch Shell and other foreign players out of a gas project on Sakhalin Island in the Northern Pacific, Exxon’s assets remained intact.”
It should be noted that support for the possible appointment of oil multimillionaire to lead the Department of State is far from unanimous in the Republican camp. For instance, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted: “Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a Secretary of State.” Meanwhile, Senator John McCain said: “I do not know what Mr. Tillerson’s relationship with Vladimir Putin was, but I will tell you it is a matter of concern to me.”
“TILLERSON WOULD BE A VERY UNUSUAL PICK FOR SECRETARY OF STATE”
John HERBST, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Washington, D.C.:
“Thus far every national security figure named by President-elect Trump has sensible views about the need for a strong NATO, the dangers of a revisionist Kremlin, and importance of supporting Ukraine against Moscow’s aggression. That is true of Flynn, McFarland, and Mattis. It is also true of Vice President-elect Pence. The president of ExxonMobil’s views on these issues are unknown. He would be a very unusual pick for Secretary of State. My sense is that Trump is impressed by the man and the news stories that he is the favorite for that job are a trial balloon.
“Republican Senators McCain, Rubio, and Graham have already expressed concern about ExxonMobil CEO Tillerson’s reported closeness to Putin. This suggests that if Mr. Trump actually chooses Tillerson, he might have difficulties being confirmed by Congress.”
“TRUMP CONSIDERS IT NECESSARY TO SEE IN THIS POSITION A PERSON HE CAN EASILY INFLUENCE”
Oleksandr TSVIETKOV, Americanist, Professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kyiv:
“The logic behind Trump’s appointments is easily understood. To fill positions in his administration, the US president-elect seeks figures he can understand. Meanwhile, the likely appointment of ExxonMobil’s chief manager as Secretary of State came due to that company’s having massive representation abroad. Apart from its enclaves, it operates in over 100 countries. And since Tillerson has managed the company for many years, he has extensive connections abroad. What is interesting here is the fact that the company’s extensive contacts with Russia are quite active.
“ExxonMobil has been involved in operations in Sakhalin, and the prospects of cooperation with Russia on the development of Arctic reserves have been most promising for the company lately. But existing sanctions against Russia prevent it from going forward with this activity.
“Still, we must take into account the psychological and political climate in the US, which is now affected by calls for the creation of a bipartisan investigative commission to look into foreign interference in the US elections. In other words, in the current atmosphere, a person who has special relations with Russian president Putin can hardly be considered a serious contender. After all, the Senate has to confirm any secretary of state nominee.
“Several candidates have been put forward for this position. And it should be said that they all have very strong personalities. But Trump considers it necessary to see in this position a person he can easily understand and influence. However, the situation is such that powerful political figures will make deals in their interests in the best sense of the word, aiming to get their name associated with this position and benefit from it. My feeling is that candidates who have been considered for this position so far are unlikely to get confirmed.
“In this case, it seems to me that the internal atmosphere in the US is not conducive for such an appointment and promotion of a company’s special interests at the expense of national interests.”
«A BIG QUESTION WILL BE HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH PUTIN »
Steve PIFER, a senior research associate at the Brookings Institution and former US ambassador to Ukraine, Washington:
We are still waiting to see whether Mr. Tillerson will be the president-elect's nominee for secretary of state. Mr. Tillerson is clearly a very accomplished individual, but a big question will be his relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia, and whether he can take a broader view of the Kremlin's actions and misbehavior, for example, its illegal seizure and annexation of Crimea and heavy involvement in Donbas conflict. As head of ExxonMobil, Mr. Tillerson successfully negotiated deals with Russian officials on issues where ExxonMobil's interests coincided with Russia's. How would he negotiate with Russian officials on other questions -- such as Ukraine, NATO and Syria -- where U.S. and Russian interests are in conflict? If Mr. Trump nominates Mr. Tillerson, he can expect to get some heavy questioning on this during his Senate confirmation hearings. A number of senators already appear to be skeptical.
As for the broader question about the future foreign and security policy of the Trump administration, we are still in a wait and see phase. There appear to be internal contradictions regarding Ukraine and Russia between some of the key players expected to be in the new administration
