After a carousel of candidates that included seasoned politicians Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani,Donald Trump has reached outside the political realm for his secretary of state. The president-elect has selected Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the highly coveted position, NBC News reports.
While Tillerson—who became president of the world’s largest oil company in 2004—has no government experience, he has brokered major international deals with some of the world’s top leaders, and is said to have a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the country’s top diplomat, Tillerson’s close ties to Russia—he brokered a huge energy partnership with the country in 2011 and was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship decoration the following year—is expected to come under scrutiny, especially after the startling revelation that Russia intervened in the election. Many on Twitter have already sounded the alarms, as Trump continues to fill his cabinet with wealthy CEOs.
Tillerson’s emergence as Trump’s pick comes after a whirlwind few weeks in the president-elect's transition, which has seemingly turned into a dog and pony show—or more appropriately when Trump is concerned, a beauty pageant. But after the world’s most awkward photo broke the internet and Giuliani publicly withdrew his name from consideration, Tillerson grabbed the pole position. He met with Trump on Saturday at Trump Tower, a spokesperson for the president-elect confirmed, and is expected to be officially nominated for secretary of state on Tuesday.
