After a July 20 meeting in a secure room at the Pentagon, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called President Trump a "moron," shocking the handful of senior administration officials at the meeting, NBC News reports, citing three officials "present or briefed on the incident." The previous day, Trump had threatened to fire the U.S. general commanding the Afghanistan war and compared troop deployment decisions to the renovation of the 21 Club restaurant in New York, but Tillerson was also reportedly upset about being undercut by the president on U.S. policy on Qatar and Iran, among other places.
Then, after Trump gave an overly partisan campaign-style talk to the Boy Scouts, Tillerson — an Eagle Scout and former president of the Boy Scouts of America — threatened to quit, NBC reports, citing "multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time." Tillerson, in Texas for his son's wedding, threatened not to return, but was strongly urged to stay on by his closest allies in the administration, Defense Secretary James Mattis and soon-to-be Chief of Staff James Kelly, NBC News says. When he returned, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly arranged a meeting to defuse the tensions and counsel Tillerson to work within Trump's policy framework.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Putin says Russia isn't weakened by Syria setbackSpeed Read Russia had been one of the key backers of Syria's ousted Assad regime
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump caseSpeed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdownSpeed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdownSpeed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdownSpeed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorismSpeed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
-
Ex-FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about BidensSpeed Read Alexander Smirnov claimed that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma
-
South Korea impeaches president, eyes chargesSpeed Read Yoon Suk Yeol faces investigations on potential insurrection and abuse of power charges
