US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may be considering resigning from his role, according to a report from CNN.
Though the former CEO of ExxonMobil Corp. has said that he would stay on as the top U.S. diplomat until the end of the year at least, several anonymous sources told CNN over the weekend that he might leave earlier than that.
Sources "familiar with Tillerson conversations with friends outside Washington" admit the secretary of State may just be venting, but they sense his doubts about President Donald Trump are growing.
The sources say Tillerson was especially troubled by Trump’s recent New York Times interview, in which he lamented hiring Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Tillerson reportedly saw the comments – in which Trump called Sessions “unfair” for recusing himself from the Justice Department's Russia probe – as unprofessional.
Trump and his Secretary of State have clashed on several key issues, such as Trump’s insistence on pulling out of the Paris climate accord. Tillerson said in his Senate confirmation hearing that he supported staying in the agreement, while Trump campaigned on getting the US out.
“Rexit,” as CNN's sources referred to it, would mark another change in an administration currently in the middle of a shakeup. On Friday, press secretary Sean Spicer announced he would resign, immediately after Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci was named White House communications director.
