Tillerson called Trump a ‘moron,’ weighed resigning in summer over policy disputes
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has denied reports that he referred to President Donald Trump as a “moron” after a meeting in July and was on the verge of resigning amid mounting policy disputes with the White House.
US Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials intervened to persuade Tillerson not to resign, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing 12 current and former senior administration officials and other people close to Trump.
Pence urged Tillerson to be respectful of the president, urging that any disagreements should be settled in-house.
Tillerson openly referred to Trump as a “moron” during the July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of his national security team and Cabinet members.
US State Department spokesman R.C. Hammond disputed the report, telling the network that Tillerson never called Trump a "moron," and never considered quitting.
Tensions between Tillerson and Trump have been simmering for months, sometimes visibly as the two have publicly diverged on some of the administration's most crucial foreign policy challenges, including Iran and North Korea.
Following reports of a rift by NBC, Tillerson offered effusive praise for Trump during a brief news conference on Wednesday at the State Department.
Tillerson also denied that he had considered resigning from Trump's cabinet.
"The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post," he said.
Asked directly whether he'd ever called Trump a "moron," Tillerson did not respond directly.
"The places I come from, we don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense." Tillerson said. "I'm just not going to be part of this effort to divide this administration."
Instead, he alleged that unidentified individuals were spreading malicious rumors to tear down the president's agenda.
"I do not and I will not operate that way," he said, expressing support for the president's foreign policy goals and listing what he sees as the administration's achievements.
Shortly after Tillerson's statement, Trump tweeted: "The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!"
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