After Tillerson publicly said their encounters grew rocky over Trump’s directives to do things that were illegal, Trump hit back in a tweet in which he branded Tillerson “dumb as a rock” and “lazy as hell.”

“What was challenging for me [...],” Tillerson said, was “to go to work for a man who is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things, but rather just kind of says, ‘This is what I believe.’ ”

Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him through the dangers of an invasion

“As I reflect upon the state of American democracy, I observe a growing crisis of ethics and integrity”

The moves have been met with relief by diplomats and State Department observers, who were outraged by former Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s attempts to severely cut the department’s budget and staffing.

The cost-cutting former Secretary of State had grand ambitions for a department ‘redesign,’ but its clearest impact is a huge bill for consultants, some of whom charged more than $300 an hour.

“This can be a very mean-spirited town. But you don’t have to choose to participate in that. Each of us get to choose the person we want to be, and the way we want to be treated, and the way we will treat others.”

And since it now seems all but certain that the White House was lying about the timing, it looks more probable that it was lying about the motive too.

Steve Goldstein, top spokesman for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was fired Tuesday for contradicting the official administration account of Tillerson's own firing

Under Tillerson’s watch, 60 percent of State’s top-ranking career diplomats resigned and new applications to join the foreign service fell by half

Trump said Tuesday he is replacing Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, nominating CIA Director Mike Pompeo in his place.

Tillerson on Monday called the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain “an egregious act” and added, “It appears that it clearly came from Russia.”

Tillerson’s trip to Africa comes as the chaos in the administration appears to be increasing and his own place in it remains uncertain.

Steele’s memo said Russia used “unspecified channels” to request that Trump choose a secretary of State who would remove “Ukraine-related sanctions,” according to the report.

Jacobson, who spent 31 years as a diplomat, becomes the latest veteran foreign service officer to step down in an unusual exodus of senior talent under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

The former chief executive of ExxonMobil for months has defended his plans to "redesign" the State Department, saying he did not intend to hollow out the organization.

Tillerson, who had little to show after his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, expressed “serious concerns” at the continued detention of American citizens under the crackdown.

“The point is, if it's their intention to interfere, they are going to find ways to do that. We can take steps we can take, but this is something that, once they decide they are going to do it, it's very difficult to pre-empt it”

Trump and Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson are once again at odds over how to deal with nuclear-armed North Korea after Mr. Tillerson declared on Tuesday that the United States was ready to open talks with the North “without precondition.”

Tillerson has been calling leaders from around the world in recent days to alert them to the pending announcement.

In the end, he was trapped on the one hand between a president with little regard for diplomacy or the State Department ..., and on the other hand, the cruel and unforgiving realities of a world beyond America’s shores, which left him with a bundle of challenges impossible to manage, let alone resolve.

The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, perhaps within the next several weeks

Imagine holding the job of representing the most important country on the planet, facing an exploding array of crises around the world, and focusing not on diplomacy but on fiddling around with your org chart and mundane tasks like fixing the email system.

The departures mark a new stage in the broken and increasingly contentious relationship between Mr. Tillerson and much of his department’s work force.

Pompeo has told associates that he expects the president to tap him for the position and that he’d accept the job if it’s offered to him.

Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, retained investments in a shipping firm with business ties to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s inner circle.

A leaked State Department document is alarming diplomats and others who say it shows the accumulation of power among a small and unaccountable group of senior aides to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

...admonishing President Donald Trump for what the senator called an effort to “castrate” the secretary of state and actions that are pushing U.S. diplomatic efforts to the brink of “World War III.”

“Sir, we didn’t need to verify that he called you a moron, he did it behind your back”

The U.S. government is quietly losing its next generation of foreign policy leaders—an exodus that could undermine our institutions and interests for decades to come.

Tillerson did not directly address whether he had called Trump a “moron,” as NBC reported.

But out of the spotlight, he appears to be crafting a broad strategy aimed at working with China to resolve the North Korea crisis and with Russia to stabilize Syria and Ukraine.

Tillerson has taken steps toward spending tens of millions of dollars to counter propaganda by Islamist extremists and governments such as Russia.

...the State Department has ordered the Russian government to close its consulate general in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C., and a consular annex in New York City.

The call followed a declaration earlier Wednesday from President Donald Trump that “the U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!”

“It’s highly unusual for senior aides and Cabinet officials to openly critique the president. To some degree, they were likely fed up with the current situation and don’t fear the consequences. What’s the worst that can happen? He fires you.”

Tillerson wants to eliminate at least 30 special envoy positions at the State Department, including ones dedicated to the Syrian crisis and closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

“I don't believe anyone doubts the American people's values or the commitment of the American government or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values.”

...making clear that it is focused on diplomatic and economic pressure, and that American military action is currently contemplated only in response to an attack by Pyongyang.

“I think what the president was doing was sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong-un would understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language,” said Tillerson.

The U.S. has yet to decide on what retaliatory steps it would take, Tillerson said, only that those steps would be taken by Sept. 1.

...the man of the moment here ... was the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, a dashing diplomat who unlike Mr. Tillerson held a news conference and direct talks with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong.

Tillerson aide R.C. Hammond suggested the money is unwelcome because any extra funding for programs to counter Russian media influence would anger Moscow

The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing — any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.

For weeks, conversations with Tillerson friends outside of Washington have left the impression that he, despite his frustrations, was determined to stay on the job at least through the end of the year.

“I have been very clear in my discussions with Russian leadership, on more than one occasion, that it is necessary for Russia to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine”

Tillerson has grown especially agitated that less experienced figures like Miller ... have been giving him commands.

What Vietnam did to hollow out our military, Tillerson is doing to State.

It was the loudest manifestation yet of how frustrated Tillerson is in his new role. He has complained about White House attempts to push personnel on him; about the president’s tweets; and about the work conditions in a West Wing where he sometimes finds loyalty and competence hard to come by.

“I don’t think we’re going to change our ongoing efforts to reduce those emissions in the future either, so hopefully, people can keep it in perspective”

Only foreign media were invited.

The 17 veterans argue that climate change poses a critical national security risk and say the U.S. must remain engaged in the international effort to fight it

“With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Don’t look to the United States for hope.”

Tillerson called Friday for new economic sanctions on North Korea and other “painful” measures over its nuclear weapons program

But over the past month, as Tillerson has taken a lead on the administration’s strategy with Syria, Russia and China, his status has shifted – and behind the scenes, he’s emerging as Trump’s favorite cabinet secretary.

For 1 hour and 43 minutes, the State Department allowed Russia's version of events to go unchecked. It put Russia in control by not communicating with reporters more frequently.

“There is a low level of trust between our two countries,” Tillerson told reporters, in one of Wednesday’s biggest understatements.

Russia can be a part of the discussions “and play an important role,” Mr. Tillerson said

...the overall tone of suspicion and condemnation of Russia’s actions in Syria indicated that Mr. Trump’s top national security advisers were nudging him back to a more traditional Russia policy.

Many career diplomats say they still have not met him, and some have been instructed not to speak to him directly — or even make eye contact.

Deleted from the text was: “The United States is taking a leading role by advancing an ever-expanding suite of measures at home and abroad.”

In a break with decades of precedent, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson opted against allowing a press pool on his plane during his first trip to Asia as America’s top diplomat.

Mr. Tillerson has come to be viewed as the phantom of Foggy Bottom, scarcely glimpsed and known mostly for his directives to wipe out some of the department’s top jobs.

Instead, a senior administration official talked to reporters by phone and only on the condition of anonymity.

...and a separate effort to take a hard look at all American aid to Mexico, possibly using it to pay for a border wall instead.

Mr. Johnson was heard to ask: “Are we still being recorded?” To which Mr. Tillerson, whose two-week tenure has not included a single news conference, press availability or routine briefing, replied, “They never give up.”

Mr. Trump has been increasingly focused on who was with him or against him during his campaign

House GOP voted on Wednesday to kill an Obama-era regulation that would require publicly traded oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose any payments that they made to foreign governments, including taxes and royalties.

The votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation were the most in Senate history for a secretary of state