Trump was reportedly furious when word spread that Tillerson called him a 'moron'

Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson.
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

It doesn't matter if you are on the playground or in the Oval Office — (allegedly) being called a moron hurts.

When NBC News reported on Wednesday morning that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, frustrated after a meeting with President Trump in July, called Trump a "moron," it got under the president's skin, four senior administration officials told NBC News on Thursday. Trump, about to fly to Las Vegas to meet with victims of Sunday's mass shooting, was "furious" when he heard the report, and spent two hours venting to his chief of staff, John Kelly. The president was so enraged, Kelly decided not to go to Las Vegas, staying behind to attempt some damage control.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.