Trump puts up Tillerson to get helm at State

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump has picked as his secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp., Trump's transition team announced Tuesday.

In a statement, Trump called Tillerson an "embodiment of the American Dream" and cited the oil executive's "tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics."

"Rex knows how to manage a global enterprise, which is crucial to running a successful State Department, and his relationships with leaders all over the world are second to none," Trump said Tuesday.

Tillerson said in the statement that he shared Trump's vision for "restoring the credibility of the United States' foreign relations," and he vowed to "focus on strengthening our alliances, pursuing shared national interests and enhancing the strength, security and sovereignty of the United States."

[TRUMP: Timeline of president-elect’s career + list of appointments so far]

Since Tillerson's name emerged as a candidate for the post, some leading Republicans have expressed reservations about his years of work in Russia and the Middle East on behalf of the multinational oil company. But some lawmakers signaled that they will support him after the announcement was made.

Tillerson "would bring to the position vast knowledge, experience and success in dealing with dozens of governments and leaders in every corner of the world," Robert Gates, who served as secretary of defense under President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, said in a statement, which did not cite any specific countries.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also did not mention Russia or other nations in her statement of support, but appeared to answer potential critics of Tillerson by calling him a "patriot" who would "represent the interests and values of the United States."

Rice, who has served on the board of Chevron, spoke with Trump about Tillerson by phone Monday as Trump made his final decision.

The Trump team is planning an aggressive public relations campaign to win confirmation for Tillerson and dispel what it sees as a false narrative about his ties to Russia, a person involved in the transition said.

"Rex Tillerson is a very Trumpian-inspired pick because it's somebody who, like Donald Trump, has a career outside of politics, and he's somebody who is accustomed to making big deals and translating that into big impact," said Kellyanne Conway, Trump's senior advisers.

Taking his victory tour to Wisconsin, Trump appeared briefly with House Speaker Paul Ryan at the Wisconsin State Fair Exposition Center. Ryan introduced the vice president-elect, Mike Pence, before Trump's remarks and then came back onstage to give Trump a Green Bay Packers jersey after his speech.

When Ryan drew boos, Trump said the speaker was "like a fine wine. Every day that goes by I get to appreciate his genius more and more."

During the campaign, Ryan and Trump were often at odds. Ryan disinvited Trump from a rally in the fall, saying he was "sickened" by past coarse comments from the presidential candidate. But they started to mend fences leading up to Election Day.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Trump's pick for chief of staff, Reince Priebus, also spoke.

Meanwhile, Trump has asked former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department, according to people with knowledge of the decision.

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Perry campaigned for president in 2011 with a plan to eliminate the Energy Department, along with the Commerce and Education departments. He once drew a blank during a nationally televised presidential debate when he tried to list the three agencies, forgetting the name of the Energy Department.

Scrutiny ahead

In the past several days, Republican and Democratic lawmakers had warned that Tillerson would face intense scrutiny over his relationship with Russia, which awarded him its Order of Friendship in 2013, and with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Tillerson's nomination was official, several Republican senators offered various degrees of support, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He said in a statement: "I look forward to supporting his nomination."

Other GOP senators, including Jeff Flake, Ariz., who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that will first have to approve Tillerson before a Senate floor vote, said that backing for Tillerson from some prominent figures -- Rice and Gates among them -- "carry considerable weight."

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has called Tillerson a "very impressive individual."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is also a member of Foreign Relations, where only one Republican vote would endanger the nomination, expressed "serious concerns" and vowed to ensure a "thorough" vetting of the nominee on the committee.

"The next secretary of state must be someone who views the world with moral clarity, is free of potential conflicts of interest, has a clear sense of America's interests, and will be a forceful advocate for America's foreign policy goals to the president, within the administration, and on the world stage," Rubio said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who wants a bipartisan investigation of Russian influence on the U.S. elections, said he expects "U.S.-Russia relations to be front-and-center in his confirmation process."

Graham called the fact that Putin awarded Tillerson the Kremlin's Order of Friendship in 2013 "unnerving," while Sen. John McCain, Ariz., questioned Tillerson's judgment on CNN on Monday noting, "I don't see how anybody could be a friend of this old-time KGB agent," referring to Putin.

The Order of Friendship has been handed out by Russian leaders to figures as diverse as pianist Van Cliburn, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt, and Raymond Johnson, founder of the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis.

Russian assurance

Earlier Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Tillerson's relationship with Putin and his friendly attitude toward Russia but played down the idea that it would influence policy.

"As to the allegations of whether his attitude to the Russian Federation is good or bad: Being secretary of state is very different from leading a company, even a very big one. Therefore, any, so to speak, sympathies become secondary," Peskov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling reporters.

"The only thing that remains here is readiness to demonstrate a constructive attitude and be professional," he said. "We are hoping that this is what will happen."

Peskov said Tillerson and Putin have met on several occasions.

"Indeed, [Tillerson] repeatedly had contacts with our representatives due to his work in the post of one of the world's largest oil companies; he fulfills his duties very professionally," Peskov said.

In a Tuesday interview with RT television, Peskov dismissed the findings by the CIA that the Russian government provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others with the intent of aiding Trump as "absolute nonsense."

The Trump transition team has dismissed the CIA conclusions of a broad Russian conspiracy, and Peskov said the Kremlin was looking forward to working with the president-elect after the long downturn in U.S.-Russian relations.

Russia has denied interfering in the elections, especially after U.S. intelligence agencies in October said the Russian government helped provide WikiLeaks with hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign staff.

Business tweets

Separately, in a series of late-night tweets Monday, Trump said he would leave the management of his real estate, licensing and other businesses to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric and company executives before his inauguration.

"Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my busineses before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the Presidency. Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office," Trump tweeted.

Trump had pledged last month that he would host a media event Thursday explaining his next business moves, but his representatives said Monday that the event was postponed until next month. In a tweet, Trump said, "I will hold a press conference in the near future to discuss the business, Cabinet picks and all other topics of interest. Busy times!"

Requests for more details from Trump representatives were not returned Tuesday. But Trump spokesman Hope Hicks said Monday that "the president-elect has been focused on putting a team in place to enact real change starting on day one."

"With so many iconic properties and successful entities, moving the announcement to January ensures the legal team has ample time to ensure the proper protocols are put in place so his sole focus will remain on the country and achieving his ambitious agenda with the help of the world-class Cabinet he has built," Hicks said.

Information for this article was contributed by Steven Mufson, Philip Rucker, Karoun Demirjian, David Filipov, Paul Kane, Anne Gearan, Brian Murphy and Drew Harwell of The Washington Post; by Julie Pace of The Associated Press; and by Michael D. Shear, Jeremy Peters and Coral Davenport of The New York Times.

A Section on 12/14/2016