US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson characterized that his relations with Donald Trump as "very open, frank, and candid."
When asked by the host of CNN's "State of the Union" about the media reports claiming he allegedly called Trump a "moron," Tillerson said that such rumors are "destructive."
"I don’t work that way, I don’t feel that way, and I’m just not gonna dignify the question," Tillerson said, adding that he is "not gonna deal with that petty stuff."
He also said that he calls Trump "Mr. President."
.@jaketapper: Did you call Trump a moron?
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) 15 октября 2017 г.
Rex Tillerson: “I’m not gonna deal with that petty stuff” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/mQxyzmjzBa
NBC reported earlier that Tillerson allegedly referred to Trump as a "moron" in private. Tillerson confirmed his commitment to the president and his agenda and called the report an "attempt to sow dissension." In his turn, Trump said that the report is "fake news."
Wow, so many Fake News stories today. No matter what I do or say, they will not write or speak truth. The Fake News Media is out of control!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 октября 2017 г.
The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 октября 2017 г.
Later he continued his Twitter crusade against the US media outlet after it reported earlier this week that Tillerson's alleged comment came after the US president said at a meeting in July that the US should expand the nuclear arsenal tenfold.
"With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!," Trump wrote on Twitter.
Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 11 октября 2017 г.
Despite denying that Tillerson might have called him a "moron" in private, Trump later said in an interview to Forbes that he knows who would have won if he and the US secretary of state compared their IQ tests.
In an interview with NBC, Corker praised chief of Staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis as the "people that help separate our country from chaos" by refusing to admit that he was referring to President Trump as the "chaos" he mentioned.
Trump responded saying that Corker is "a negative voice in the way of our great agenda," while the senator struck back calling the White House an "adult day care center."
