President Trump took a shot at former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for being “ill prepared and ill equipped” for his role in the Trump administration.
“Rex Tillerson, a man who is ‘dumb as a rock’ and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!”
Rex Tillerson, a man who is “dumb as a rock” and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany. I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2019
Tillerson met with lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for more than six hours this week — a visit that was not advertised to the media. According to ABC New’s Tara Palmeri, he “volunteered” to appear before the panel and called the Capitol Hill switchboard to say he was “happy to talk.”
The Washington Post reports that Tillerson told lawmakers that Trump was underprepared for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany. Although the United States was expecting a shorter meeting, it evolved into a two-hour meeting that covered multiple geopolitical issues.
“We spent a lot of time in the conversation talking about how Putin seized every opportunity to push what he wanted,” a committee aide said. “There was a discrepancy in preparation, and it creased unequal footing.”
An official familiar with the meeting also said Tillerson talked about his relationship with White House advisers, including senior White House adviser Jared Kushner. He argued Kushner undermined his ability to share new policies with Trump concerning important foreign affairs, the Daily Beast reports.
Trump used the term “dumb as a rock” to describe Tillerson in December when he claimed he was eager to oust him from the State Department.
“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed,” Trump tweeted. “He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”
Trump’s comments were in response to statements from Tillerson that the president often suggested doing things that were illegal, during an interview with former “Face The Nation” host Bob Schieffer. Tillerson also told Schieffer Trump is a “man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read.”
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