The upheaval and uncertainty in the Trump administration continued this week as a report surfaced that told of Secretary of State Rex Tillis nearly resigning over his ire with the president’s remarks about the Boy Scouts earlier this summer.
The story continued that Vice President Pence had to talk him off the ledge.
Tillis’s staff categorically denied that report, but now a new claim from insiders tells of a so-called ‘suicide pact’ that has emerged among Tillis, SecDef Mattis and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin that promises if one is ousted, the other two will resign.
Rumors like these are rarely without merit, despite denials, and these, in particular, paint a more vivid picture of discord among Trump’s cabinet and staff.
Here’s more from Washington Examiner…
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin reportedly have forged a “suicide pact” in which all three members of President Trump’s Cabinet would leave if one of them becomes a target of the president.
News of the agreement surfaced amid renewed questions about Tillerson’s future in the administration.
The secretary of state has frequently clashed with Trump, and NBC News reported Wednesday that Tillerson threatened to resign in July after the president’s controversial speech to the Boy Scouts.
Tillerson, who served as national president of the Boy Scouts from 2010 to 2012, was said to be upset with Trump’s speech, which many criticized as too political. After the address, the secretary of state reportedly threatened not to return to Washington from his son’s wedding in Texas, but Mattis and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly talked him out of it. Kelly is now White House chief of staff.
