On Tuesday, Trump officially announced he would nominate Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, to be the United States’ next secretary of state.
"He [Tillerson] understands the neighborhood, the importance of oil, and the threats the Saudis face," Jordan said. "He will be a more reliable ally than Obama, if Trump listens to him."
"Exxon is a tough negotiator and in the natural gas initiative bidding 13 years ago Exxon walked away from the table when the Saudis would not give them the rate of return they wanted," Jordan stated.
Tillerson and Saudi Arabia, Jordan claimed, have many common interests from fighting terrorism to maintaining a reliable flow of oil. They also share a distrust of Iran, he added.
The Exxon Mobil CEO is well suited for the position despite a lack of formal diplomatic experience, Jordan suggested, given he has run a company with about the same number of employees as and four times the annual budget of the State Department.
"He knows how to run a complex organization, how to hire competent people, and how to cut through bureaucratic inertia," Jordan said.
Jordan warned, however, that much will depend on how Trump views the Saudis because the US president and secretary of state "need to be on the same page."
The choice of Tillerson to be the chief US diplomat drew swift criticism from many Democratic lawmakers, particularly due to the oil industry executive’s business ties to Russia and expected advocacy for environmentally damaging fossil fuels at the expense of cleaner energy alternatives.
