Tillerson: Trump’s Pick for Secretary of State and Russia’s Ticket to Dominance
The Reality of our ‘Troubled Economy’ according to Trump vs. the Reality of our Worries Abroad should be Strongly Assessed:
Texan Rex Tillerson–the current CEO of Exxon who was named Forbes 25th richest man in the world in 2015– is Trump’s pick for Secretary of State. Tillerson’s past employers include Exxon, since 1975–period. He has no experience in foreign relations of which to speak. The silver lining? It will be a difficult Senate confirmation, according to The New York Times.
Exxon was the largest oil company in the world, until Rosneft–an oil company owned by the Russian government-beat it by jailing heads of other Russian companies in the oil game. The two companies–Exxon and Rosneft–did a joint exploration deal expected to bring in $500 billion before discovering a new billion barrels of oil off Siberia. It was “expected to change the historical trajectory of Russia,” Rachel Maddow pointed out on her show. The deal did not go through because of sanctions the Obama administration placed on Russia related to the Ukraine. (FYI: Exxon was also the largest company in the world until Apple Inc. beat it.)
What will happen to those sanctions under a Trump Administration?
The topics that come to mind when I think of this post are TPP, China taking control of Asian Pacific trade, NAFTA, NATO, Syria, Turkey’s humanitarian demise since the July coup attempt, ISIS growth in the Caribbean, North Korea, Brexit implications, , … and of course, Putin’s hybrid propaganda-hacking machine.
Graph regarding our ‘troubled economy’ via Public Policy Polling shows that the stock market has gone up. And it should be noted that unemployment is at 4.6%, a new low since 2007.
Recap on Tillerson’s Conflict of Interest for Secretary of State Post, Russian Oil, and Money Trail:
-The $500 billion deal could feasibly be overturned by Tillerson–who owns $150 million in Exxon shares–striking a deal to lift sanctions. For perspective, that figure–$500 billion dollars– is the amount by which Trump wants to increase the entirety of U.S. military spending, which would reach $1 trillion under the President-elect, according to Forbes.
-Tillerson has a cozy relationship with Putin, who bestowed upon him the highest award for a noncitizen in Russia at an Energy Club Summit dubbed ‘Reshaping Global Oil Markets’ for the explored collaboration.
-Moreover, Tillerson does not advocate ‘man made’ climate change.
- Sidebar: Monday afternoon, chief executives from Silicon Valley–including Elon Musk, one of the biggest proponents of climate change, and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook–are meeting with Trump in NYC. “A copy of the invite acquired by The Wall Street Journal was signed by Reince Priebus**, the incoming White House chief of staff, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.” FYI: In 2012, Theil advised then GOP Presidential-candidate Mitt Romney, whose name was also in the running for Secretary of State under Trump’s administration. Theil was quoted as telling Romney: “I think the most pessimistic candidate is going to win, because if you are too optimistic it suggests you are out of touch.”
Lessons from South Korea:
With all of the head-spinning confusion coming from Trump’s camp, including possible appointees by the President-elect, the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye for business ties that favored companies over citizens and broke dozens of Constitutional laws may have been overlooked by many.
As the slated leader of the free world, perhaps @realDonaldTrump should take a cue.
**Excerpt of Priebus’ take on the Tillerson as Secretary of State:
Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, said everybody is “jumping the shark” with hysterical criticism about Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson possibly being nominated for secretary of state.
Reports that President-elect Donald Trump plans to pick Mr. Tillerson as America’s top diplomat spurred criticism from every corner, including from senators on both sides of the aisle.
“This sort of analysis is a little premature. But as to Rex Tillerson, he is one of the preeminent business people not just in America but in the entire world,” Mr. Priebus said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Sen. Bob Melendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the potential nomination “alarming and absurd.”
Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he is concerned about Mr. Tillerson’s close business relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. — The Washington Times
