Rex Tillerson: We’re in a Worse Place Today Than We Were Before Trump Came In

[LupusDei]

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/11/rex-tillerson-interview-trump/

I had to constantly evaluate my last conversations with him—what seemed to resonate, what seemed to get across, what didn’t—and I would try different approaches with him. I used to go into meetings with a list of four to five things I needed to talk to him about, and I quickly learned that if I got to three, it was a home run, and I realized getting two that were meaningful was probably the best objective. So I began to adjust what I went into a meeting with and what I attempted to explain and describe, and then I started taking charts and pictures with me because I found that those seemed to hold his attention better. If I could put a photo or a picture in front of him or a map or a piece of paper that had two big bullet points on it, he would focus on that, and I could build on that. Just sitting and trying to have a conversation as you and I are having just doesn’t work.

I think the other challenge that I came to realize early on is there were so many people who had access to his ear who were telling him things, most of which were untrue, and then he began to listen to those voices and form a view that had no basis in fact. So then you spent an inordinate amount of time working through why that’s not true, working through why that’s not factual, working through why that’s not the basis on which you want to understand this, you need to set that aside, let’s talk about what’s real. I think that was as big a challenge as anything. There were other people giving him information that was not accurate, every day, usually before I got to see him. First thing in the morning and not from people inside the White House. It was really frustrating.

Nothing worked out. We squandered the best opportunity we had on North Korea. It was just blown up when he took the meeting with Kim, and that was one of the last straws between him and I.

With Putin, we didn’t get anything done. We’re nowhere with China on national security. We’re in a worse place today than we were before he came in, and I didn’t think that was possible.

I had been watching those islands being built from my role at ExxonMobil for years, where the Chinese in the South China Sea sent out gunboats to our rigs and against our seismic crews. And I just think that is where it is headed. I think it’s Xi’s plan to raise the stakes so significantly to U.S. military losses that the American people will say, “Wait a minute, we’re going to incur thousands of casualties to save Taiwan. Why would we do that?”

I argued hard for the president to stay in the Trans-Pacific Partnership because I feel that’s the best way to deal with China on trade.

With Putin, the problem is he only understands raw power. That is why sanctions don’t work. Putin is your classic bully, and the only way you deal with a bully is when he punches you, you punch him back. I think Putin is one of the most predictable people out there, and you should be able to play the chess game with him. We have more pieces than he does, but for some reason we just don’t seem to want to play the game with him, and I’ve never understood that.

I think that in the Middle East all you can try to do is try to contain Iran and hope that the Israelis don’t do something provocative.

 

[sighLent]

he is wrong

 

[adrina]

https://img.cinemablend.com/filter:scale/quill/7/a/b/d/a/7/7abda77db8222c01b94e58abc5a6821288396e33.jpg?mw=600

Too bad his foresight isn't as good as his rear vision.