Donald Trump Says Exxon’s Rex Tillerson Would Be ‘World-Class Player’ as Secretary of State

By

John D. McKinnon and

Eric Morath

Updated Dec. 11, 2016 11:23 a.m. ET

Donald Trump on Sunday defended Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Rex Tillersonâ€"expected to be the president-elect’s choice as secretary of stateâ€"as a “world-class player” who knows international leaders well.

“He’s more than a business executive,’’ Mr. Trump told Fox News in an interview broadcast Sunday. “He’s in charge of, I guess, the largest company in the world.”

Mr. Trump called it “a great advantage” that Mr. Tillerson already knows “many of the players,” noting that he does “massive deals in Russia.”

Those deals would be certain to come under scrutiny in Senate confirmation hearings. A number of Republicans have urged Mr. Trump to be wary of Russia, warning that it is trying to expand its influence in ways that run counter to U.S. interests in places such as Ukraine and Syria.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the selection of Mr. Tillerson would be “guaranteeing Russia has a willing accomplice in the president’s cabinet guiding our nation’s foreign policy.”

The nomination would also put Mr. Trump’s intentions toward Russia in the spotlight just as controversy is intensifying over reports that the CIA has concluded that a Russian-led hacking effort of U.S. email accounts was intended to boost Mr. Trump’s election chances.

In a separate Fox News interview, Trump transition team official Kellyanne Conway said Mr. Tillerson is “not a typical politician or even a typical diplomat,” but a seasoned executive accustomed to negotiating globally and managing a world-wide workforce. “This is the Trump effect,” she said, adding Mr. Trump wouldn't fit into “conventional boxes.”

Mr. Tillerson, 64 years old, met privately with Mr. Trump Saturday, four days after their first meeting.

Among those considered for the post, Mr. Tillerson has perhaps the closest ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, having negotiated a 2011 energy partnership deal with Russia that Mr. Putin said could eventually be worth as much as $500 billion. In 2012, the Kremlin bestowed the country’s Order of Friendship decoration on Mr. Tillerson.

Mr. Trump is expected to make a formal announcement about his State Department pick in the coming days. An Exxon spokesman declined to comment.

Mr. Trump in the Fox News interview also promised quick decisions on two proposed oil pipelines, the Dakota Access and Keystone lines. He said he is studying next steps on the Paris climate agreement, which he worries could give an advantage to China and other developing economies.

“I do say this: I don’t want that agreement to put us at a competitive disadvantage with other countries,” he said. “And as you know, there are different times and different time limits on that agreement. I don’t want that to give China, or other countries signing agreements an advantage over us.”

Mr. Trump also defended his sometimes pointed recent attacks on companies, such as Boeing Co., saying, “I want us to make good deals for this country.” He cited the high expected costs for new Air Force One aircraft.

“I don’t need a $4.2 billion airplane to fly around in, OK?” he said.

Since Mr. Trump began vetting candidates for secretary of state, Mr. Tillerson’s stock has climbed steadily. He moved ahead of better-known hopefuls with established political credentialsâ€"including 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romneyâ€"who had multiple conversations with Mr. Trump about the job. Mr. Tillerson is viewed by some of Mr. Trump’s advisers as a mold-breaking pick who would bring an executive’s experience to the diplomatic role, said a person involved in the process.

Mr. Trump said in a statement on Friday that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had taken himself out of the running for the diplomatic job and other administration posts late last month.

With Mr. Trump’s decision not yet final, other candidates who remain in the running, apart from Mr. Romney, are former CIA director David Petraeus, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), people familiar with the matter said.

If Mr. Trump selects Mr. Tillerson, it would add a seasoned business executive to a team that already includes three retired generals. As Exxon’s CEO since 2006, Mr. Tillerson could leverage existing relationships with numerous world leaders.

Exxon has a large global presence, and this could introduce potential conflicts if Mr. Tillerson is selected. The company explores for oil and gas on six of the world’s continents and has operations in more than 50 countries.

Mr. Tillerson is slated to retire next year and has retirement funds worth tens of millions of dollars, a value that could potentially be affected by State Department activities. For example, he could benefit from such potential department actions as the lifting of sanctions on Russia.

The Obama administration and European allies have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Obama administration also has accused the Kremlin of backing militants in eastern Ukraine even after the annexation of Crimea.

As Exxon’s CEO, Mr. Tillerson has spoken against sanctions on Russia. Mr. Tillerson’s work there dates to when Mr. Putin rose to power after Boris Yeltsin’s resignation.

“We always encourage the people who are making those decisions to consider the very broad collateral damage of who are they really harming with sanctions,” he said at the company’s annual meeting in May 2014.

Mr. Tillerson grew up in Texas and in 1975 joined Exxon, where he has spent his entire career. He has long been closely affiliated with Republican politicians and the Boy Scouts of America, but he has never worked in government.

While unusual, the choice of a corporate leader as secretary of state wouldn’t be unprecedented. George Shultz was the executive vice president of engineering giant Bechtel before he became secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan, though Mr. Shultz had been in government in a prior administration.

Mr. Trump also is expected to tap Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.) to lead the Interior Department, according to a person familiar with the matter.

If confirmed by the Senate, she would lead Mr. Trump’s efforts to open up federal lands and waters to fossil-fuel development and reverse environmental policies the Obama administration has pursued.

Since her first election to Congress in 2004, Ms. McMorris Rodgers has risen in the ranks and is now the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in the House and the highest-ranking GOP woman in Congress. She also serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee

Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com and Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com

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