Rex Tillerson

American politics is always big on ‘firsts’. The proverbial political debut is often more important than one’s actual policies.
–JFK was the first Catholic POTUS
–Ronald Reagan the first Hollywood actor POTUS
–Barack Obama the first black POTUS
–Donald Trump is the first reality TV/apolitical POTUS
Indeed, the main thrust of Hillary Clinton’s campaign was that she would be the first female POTUS. Since that wasn’t enough to convince most voters, this is a ‘first’ that is still very much up for grabs.

Hours after Rex Tillerson gave a stern warning to North Korea at the United Nations Security Council, about giving up its weapons programmes, North Korea test fired a ballistic missile.
The move was more symbolic than materially relevant, but the symbolism will not be lost on the deep state nor on its new best friends in the Trump White House.
Although South Korean reports said that the launch was a technical failure, this may matter increasingly little to the US that has been on the path to open conflict in the Korean Peninsula, in spite of a recent pseudo-climb down.

Even as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to signal a softening of the US stance towards North Korea during today’s UN Security Council session, he came slap up against the reality of China’s refusal to pull the coals out of the fire for the US on the North Korean issue.

Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, acted today to confirm his authority as the head of US diplomacy by using a UN Security Council session to make what amounted to a peace offer to North Korea.

Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, who has this month started to find his feet as the US’s foreign minister, has finally acted to assert his authority over Nikki Haley, the US’s out of control UN ambassador.
It has become increasingly clear over the last few weeks that Nikki Haley, who is a politician with Presidential ambitions not a diplomat, has been abusing her position as the US’s UN ambassador to grandstand in preparation for what I am sure is an intended Presidential bid.

(COMMONDREAMS) Saying diplomacy was difficult, President Donald Trump warned Thursday that the United States “could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely.”

The United Nations Security Council has met to debate US proposals on further sanctions against North Korea. Although the US adopted a serious tone, it nevertheless is symptomatic of a climb-down from last week’s overt military threats.
READ MORE: Trump climbs down on China, North Korea. No military action threatened
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used harsh language to describe the American position saying,

A report in the Russian newspaper Izvestia sourced from the Russian Foreign Ministry says that in response to US pleas Russia has quietly switched back on the hotline between the Russian and US militaries in Syria.

Tomorrow’s White House meeting between Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson, James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis and all 100 Senators could just be the biggest bluff of his Presidency and indeed the biggest bluff of recent US history. Of course it might not be. Both scenarios must be considered even though I lean heavily towards the ‘bluff’ theory.
I wish there was a better phrase for what I imagine this to be than a ‘made for TV Presidency’, but alas that is what it feels like.

In an unusual move by US Presidential standards, Donald Trump has decided to summon all 100 US Senators for a White House briefing on the situation in North Korea. The meeting is to take place on Wednesday. In addition to Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis will also be present.
While the move is legally unrelated to asking both Houses of Congress to declare a war (something Trump has not yet done), the gesture does imply a further march to confrontation with North Korea.