Wednesday, January 24, 2018

I Guess U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Is Not Leaving

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson in September at the White House. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

Politico: Against the odds, Tillerson hangs on — for now

After months of rumors—and even an informal betting pool—about his departure, the secretary of state approaches the one-year mark in his job even after reportedly calling President Donald Trump a ‘moron.’

Rex Tillerson was supposed to quit or be fired by July. Or was it October? Definitely by the end of 2017, some predicted. One group of foreign diplomats and State Department officials even set up a casual betting pool. The over/under date: Jan. 31, a day shy of Tillerson’s one-year anniversary as secretary of state.

As that date approaches, the diplomatic world is watching closely for a much-discussed “Rexit.” But expectations are being downgraded among those who thought he’d be gone by month’s end. If anything, Tillerson looks inclined to hang on to his post for the foreseeable future.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: So much for this news report being true .... New York Times: White House Considering Replacing US Secretary or State Tillerson With CIA Director Pompeo (November 30, 2017). He said at the beginning of January that he was going to remain as US Secretary of State for the rest of 2018, and it looks like he is right .... U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: 'I Intend To Be Here For The Whole Year' (January 5, 2018). It makes one wonder why did the media play the story that he was leaving in a consistent loop for almost half the year.

5 comments:

Hans Persson said...

This is what happens when you publish rumors and speculations as news and to answer your question: to undermine the legitimacy of Trump.

Anonymous said...

I never take any speculation about Trump's employees seriously. Quite obviously nobody who knows anything is going to help the press with advance word. Trump's people know the media is no friend, quite the contrary they are blood enemies to the Trump admin.

Think about the implications.

Jay Farquharson said...

"Tillerson, in his letter, said he was giving up an Exxon credit card that would have granted him discounted gas for life. Tillerson won’t get all of the $180 million immediately. It will go into a trust that vests over time. And if he leaves the State Department and heads back to the oil industry, he will have forfeit a significant portion of the money. It would go to charity."

http://fortune.com/2017/01/06/rex-tillerson-exxon-taxes-trump/

"
What neither side cared to mention: A quirk in the way the deal was structured will allow Tillerson, at least for now, to avoid over $71 million in taxes. With the deal, Tillerson can move his money, now locked up in the value of Exxon’s stock, which right now accounts for about half of Tillerson’s total wealth, according to a financial disclosure form Tillerson filed on Wednesday, into diversified mutual funds—potentially an even bigger benefit, since his financial well being won’t be so closely tied to just one company. And again, he gets to do that without incurring taxes, at least for now."

Well known to those that pay attention for over a year.

Tillerson has to stay until after Feb. 2, 2018 making no mention of resigning or being fired, or he takes a $75 million dollar tax hit, and loses control of $185 million.








Bob Huntley said...

2/2/18 coming up soon. Maybe 2/3/18 will be more interesting.

Jay Farquharson said...

Maybe,

Given Trump's history, Tillerson wouldn't have taken the job, risking control of $185 million and the risk of incurring $75 million in taxes, with out leverage to ensure he stayed employed until 2/2/18.