Trump’s new pick shows he wants to improve ties with Russia: Analyst
Donald Trump’s appointment of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillersron as his secretary of state shows that the US president-elect is determined to improve ties with Russia and is even undaunted by a possible coup attempt by the CIA and the media, according to an American foreign policy expert.
On Tuesday morning, Trump selected Tillersron to lead the State Department in his incoming administration, ignoring concerns about the oil chief’s ties with Russia.
Tillerson has reportedly close business relations with Russia and was awarded “Order of Friendship” -- one of the country’s most prestigious awards given to foreign nationals -- by the Russian government in 2013.
Under Tillerson’s management, the energy giant ExxonMobil negotiated a major energy deal with Moscow in 2011, according to The Wall Street Journal. Putin said at the time that the deal could be worth over $500 billion.
James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst from Washington, told Press TV on Tuesday that “Trump’s selection of Rex Tillersron shows that he has a very definite idea of where he wants to go in improving relations with Moscow.”
“This is something he made a very constant theme during his campaign under a lot of attacks from both the Democrats and the Republicans and the media,” he said.
The analyst said Trump’s appointment of Tillersron “shows that he is not backing down on this at all."
"And this is even more significant given that in just the last few days, what some people even have been calling a coup attempt from the people inside the media, and the CIA, and other intelligence agencies who tried to discredit his election win, claiming somehow that was influenced by the Kremlin," he said.
“And instead of backing down, he turns right around and nominates somebody who is known as being on very friendly terms with Vladimir Putin. So I think it’s quite significant,” he stated.
According to reports, Trump is challenging a fight with the Republican Senate with his nomination of Tillerson.
Republicans have said explicitly that they will oppose Tillerson because of his past and connections with Russia, but there are early indications that Trump will prevail.
“I think it’s going to be a fight, but like many of the other fights that Trump has had where people think it is quite improbable, and he’s shooting himself in the foot and so forth, I think he would prevail,” Jatras stated.
Biden set to lose re-election over his genocidal policy in Gaza: US journalist
Frightful Biden-Trump rematch planned for November: Analyst
US Empire controlling people's minds to maintain hegemony: Scholar
Iran decries Israeli aggression on Syria as ‘war crime’
Iran's letters slam UN inaction on Israeli crimes against its citizens
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
VIDEO | Yemeni protesters call for military mobilization against Israel
VIDEO | Art festival honors Martyr Tehrani Moqadam’s legacy
Borrell urges sanctions on Israel for war crimes
VIDEO | Top Iranian delegation in Beirut for talks
UN calls on Israel to allow unrestricted access to Gaza to deliver aid
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
