Friday, February 17, 2017

He hasn't got much help in the State Department, so Tillerson has to do all his own policy reviews.

February 16, 2017

The G20.

A speed dating event. (click here) That's how the G20 meeting of leading and developing economies could best be described. And there was one man among the foreign ministers gathered in Bonn who was very much sought after.

The likes of Rex Tillerson, Boris Johnson or Sergey Lavrov did not travel to Bonn, Germany, in order to find the perfect mate. And yet, their schedule came awfully close to looking like a speed dating event. Aides were rushing up and down stairs, and ushering delegates in and out of conference rooms at the World Conference Center in Germany's former capital.



Russia's Lavrov and Rex Tillerson at the G20 in the sanitorium.

Everyone's favorite date was US Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. All eyes were on the Texas businessman turned politician. It seemed as if delegates from countries as different as South Africa and Saudi Arabia were all hoping that Tillerson would clarify what US foreign policy under President Trump will look like....


February 17, 2017
By Gabrielle Bluestone

Secretary of State Rex (click here) Tillerson is in Bonn, Germany for the G-20 Summit, where he’s reportedly sleeping, eating and doing diplomacy at a sanitarium 30 minutes outside the city, a hotspot hospital featuring “elderly people in wheelchairs arriving for spa treatments.”

Officially, Tillerson is staying at the Steigenberger Sanatorium because all the hotels in Bonn were booked by the time he decided to attend the summit, as if there was some chance America might not be represented there this year. But it’s also emblematic of the Trump administration’s modus operandi, which included firing most of the State Department without finding replacements and shutting Tillerson out of the meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday. And as Bloomberg also points out, Tillerson has yet to hire a deputy secretary or hold a press conference, a stark contrast from the Obama administration, which held daily briefings with reporters.

On Thursday, Tillerson reportedly held at least seven bilateral meetings, including one at the sanitarium with Boris Johnson. The Times paints a grim picture:...

Tillerson met with the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The topic that seems to be of real concern is the immigration ban.