Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced Tuesday that he is “keeping an open mind” about President-elect Trump’s nomination of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state.
Paul told Fox News that there are open questions Tillerson needs to answer, particularly about regime change and nation-building in the Middle East, which Paul has criticized. He also added that if Tillerson shares the same worldview as Trump, that is something he would be comfortable with.
“I’m keeping an open mind,” Paul said. “What I’ve said all along is that I agree with Donald Trump that nation-building hasn’t made us safer. It’s been very expensive and hasn’t worked. Regime change hasn’t worked in the Middle East. The Iraq War was a strategic failure.”
“I want someone to be at secretary of state who agrees with Donald Trump on those key issues because this is an ongoing process where people are still advocating for toppling the Assad regime as if regime change will make things better there,” Paul continued. “So I think those questions are open and I’m willing to find out what Tillerson has to say on those issues, and if he embraces Donald Trump’s vision and worldview, I’d be fine with that.”
The Kentucky Republican warned Trump against picking John Bolton, a former Ambassador to the United Nations, as Tillerson’s undersecretary in the State Department, and pointed to Bolton’s stance on regime change and continued advocacy for the Iraq War.
“My main concern though is that his undersecretary not be John Bolton,” Paul said. “I think Bolton has not understood the historical significance of the Iraq War. He is still an advocate for regime change and nation-building, so my hope is that he will not come forward as the undersecretary.”
Paul also downplayed Tillerson’s connections to the Russians, saying that Tillerson did what he had to do as head of the oil and gas corporation to further their interests. He also added that his experience dealing with world leaders as Exxon Mobil’s CEO is a “plus.”
