Tillerson has been neglecting his Trump-image duties
Trump and Tillerson don’t get along because Trump is all mavericky and Tillerson (in Trump’s view) is “conventional.” Now I think Tillerson is not all that conventional, for instance he’s not conventional enough to think a Secretary of State should have some relevant education or experience. I think it’s pretty unconventional for a corporate executive to think he’s qualified to be in charge of US foreign policy.
The already tense relationship between the two headstrong men — one a billionaire former real estate developer, the other a former captain of the global oil industry — has ruptured into what some White House officials call an irreparable breach that will inevitably lead to Tillerson’s departure, whether immediately or not. Tillerson’s dwindling cohort of allies say he has been given an impossible job and is doing his best with it.
For months now, Trump has been piqued by rumors of disloyalty that have filtered up to him from Foggy Bottom, the home of the State Department. In private meetings, the president has also been irked by Tillerson’s arguments for a more-traditional approach on policies, from Iran to climate change to North Korea, and by Tillerson’s visible frustration when overruled. Trump has chafed at what he sees as arrogance on the part of an employee.
But Tillerson isn’t “an employee.” Trump isn’t a god or a king or a mafia boss. He is, terrifyingly, at the top of the chain of command, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is his “employee” in the usual sense. They all work for the country and its people first of all, and presidents shouldn’t be demanding shows of deference from colleagues.
And as Tillerson has traveled the globe, Trump believes his top diplomat often seems more concerned with what the world thinks of the United States than with tending to the president’s personal image.
What? What did they just say? Along with thinking Tillerson is too “arrogant” for an employee, he’s also miffed that Tillerson pays more attention to what the world thinks of the United States than to tending to the president’s personal image? Secretaries of State aren’t there to tend to presidents’ images! That’s not their job and it shouldn’t be their job.
Meanwhile, Tillerson — who ran one of the world’s largest corporations with near-dictatorial control — has struggled to submit to the whims and wishes of a boss who governs by impulse. Deliberative in style, he has been caught off-guard by Trump’s fiery and injudicious tweets and repulsed by some flashes of the president’s character, such as when Trump saidthere were “fine people” among those marching at a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. “The president speaks for himself,” Tillerson said at the time.
That’s Trump. He’s scum. Tillerson should have quit.
Tillerson entered office as one of the mainstream foreign policy and national security voices around Trump, putting him at odds with Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.
In other words with two internet-famous crazies.
Also that shining example of foreign policy experties Jared Kushner is annoyed with Tillerson because blah blah blah who cares. The inmates have taken over, we’re all doomed.
I don’t have a big problem with describing the Secretary of State as an “employee,” but there has to be some recognition that it’s a very high-level employee, appointed for his or her skills and judgment. You’ve got to let them exercise those skills and judgment, subject only to the basic high-level directions you give them.
One of the basic mistakes of personnel management is to delegate a task to someone and then undermine their efforts. Trump does this constantly, especially to Tillerson. The SoS should be the person managing the day-to-day relations with foreign governments, with the President only getting involved to set basic overall policy, or to deal with a specific crisis that merits presidential attention. But Trump wants to tweet insults to North Korea whenever he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, so he’s continually stepping on his own representative.
Well that’s why I said Trump is at the top of the chain of command, and also that doesn’t mean everyone else is his “employee” in the usual sense. Besides which, Tillerson is not Trump’s employee – Trump doesn’t pay him or cover his health insurance. He’s selected by Trump but not employed by him. If it’s true that Trump has chafed at what he sees as arrogance on the part of an employee then he’s confused (surprise!) because that’s a crude and mistaken idea of how the hierarchy is supposed to work.
He gave Tillerson the job and Tillerson took it, so he owes Trump. He could have said “no.” Without relevant experience or knowledge, he should have. The Senate confirmation process, ideally, would have weeded out someone without qualifications for the job, but there it is. Tillerson is at least less unqualified for his post than Trump is for his (there are pets, houseplants and dead people who would occupy the Oval office with greater ability and dignity than does Trumpzilla).
Yes, Tillerson should have resigned at the time of Charlottesville. It would have had greater meaning and impact then than his soon-to-occur firing will. He could have left over a principle, of his own volition rather than being fired by Trump like another contestant on The Apprentice. It might have woken up some Republicans to start thinking more about Article 25. But it would seem there are no depths to which Trump can sink and still have continued Republican support. Instead we have a continuation of the ongoing nightmare.
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944.71555.144310995587370/1680449021973552/?type=3&theater
I don’t know if anyone here follows Rick Wilson on Twitter (@therickwilson). He’s a longtime Republican campaign advisor and die-hard conservative, but he was a NeverTrump guy from the beginning, and has a knack for describing Trump’s flaws. I’m condensing a few tweets into one statement:
Sigh. Happy Friday, everybody.