Section: POLITICO – U.S. Edition (USA)
Priebus: Trump won’t rule out lifting Russia sanctions
Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus would not commit the administration of President-elect Donald Trump to keeping sanctions against Russia in place, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “you have to just wait and see.”Priebus, who will leave his job as chairman of the Republican National Committee to join Trump’s White...
Trump dares GOP Senate to reject Tillerson
Donald Trump is daring a fight with the Republican Senate with his nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, and his confirmation is far from a sure thing.Several Republican senators have already reacted critically to his business ties to Russia. It would only take three of them to sink Tillerson, if Democrats all voted no. No Republicans have...
5 roadblocks that might trip up Tillerson
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s ties to Russia represent only one of the obstacles that could block his path into Donald Trump’s Cabinet — and each of them offer Democrats a chance to inflict some political damage on the potential secretary of State.Tillerson would also face certain grilling in the Senate about the investigations...
Tillerson boosters have Russia, Exxon business ties
Former government officials are lining up to vouch for ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Donald Trump’s secretary of state and they all have something in common – a financial stake in the outcome.James Baker, the Reagan secretary of state who MSNBC reported advised Donald Trump to pick Tillerson, is a partner at a law firm that has...
Trump battles for legitimacy
Donald Trump thinks they’re out to get him.The president-elect is mounting a furious public defense of his legitimacy, charging that his political adversaries are trying to undermine him before he even takes office — and they’re using bogus intel to do it.Pushing back on the CIA’s leaked conclusion that Russian...
Trump: Reports of Russian hacking ‘ridiculous’
President-elect Donald Trump called reports that the Russian government endeavored to help him win last month’s presidential election “ridiculous” and “just another excuse” in an interview that aired Sunday morning, once again questioning the intelligence community he will take charge of when he is inaugurated next month.Trump told “Fox...
What It Really Means to Be a ‘Friend of Putin’
In June 2008, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson attended the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russia’s answer to Davos, its way of showing itself to the world as the kind of economic powerhouse that can attract executives like Rex Tillerson to its banquets. It was a key and very shaky moment for Russia. Vladimir Putin was bowing out after his...
Lawmakers alarmed Exxon chief could empower Putin
Donald Trump’s leading candidate for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, would accelerate the president-elect’s collision course with Congress over his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and raise new questions about Putin’s role in the election.Tillerson, whom Trump officials now call the...
The many contradictions of Trump’s secretary of state candidates
At first blush, they seem remarkably alike: 10 older white men, all successful in their chosen fields, and all willing to serve the country if called upon by the incoming president, Donald Trump. But take a closer look at Trump’s batch of secretary of state candidates and the similarities fade quickly. One candidate has called for bombing...
Russia accuses Ukraine of sabotaging Trump
A top Russian official is accusing the Ukrainian government of undermining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by trashing him on social media and disseminating dirt on one of his close associates.A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday contended that the Ukrainian government over the summer damaged Trump’s...
