Furious Trump summons Tillerson to White House as 'moron' row rumbles on

David Harding
·Contributor
President Trump is apparently furious at the ‘moron’ allegation (Rex)
President Trump is apparently furious at the ‘moron’ allegation (Rex)

‘Morongate’ is not over.

Donald Trump is apparently so furious that he was allegedly called a “f***ing moron” by Rex Tillerson that the White House Chief of Staff summoned the Secretary of State to Washington to contain the fallout from the latest turmoil to hit the presidency.

John Kelly scrapped plans to travel with Mr Trump and ordered Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis to the White House for a showdown meeting, according to media reports in the US.

The White House however downplayed Kelly’s decision to stay in the capital, saying he did so to manage day-to-day operations in DC.

The meeting came to light via NBC, the media group which first revealed the moron allegations.

Rex Tillerson refused to deny the claim earlier this week (Rex)
Rex Tillerson refused to deny the claim earlier this week (Rex)

On Wednesday this week, NBC reported that Tillerson had threatened to resign in July after clashing with the president and at called him a ‘moron’.

It has since been claimed in some quarters that he actually said ‘f***ing moron’.

Following the claims, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the story as ‘fake news’ and also criticised NBC.

The president took to Twitter after the claims surfaced (Twitter)
The president took to Twitter after the claims surfaced (Twitter)

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Tillerson was said to be on the verge of quitting earlier this week, but denied that he wanted to stand down. He refused to answer a question about whether he called the president a ‘moron’.

One senior administration official responded after hearing his refusal to answer: ‘When Tillerson didn’t deny it, I assumed it was true.’

The row hints at increased tensions withing the current administration with vice-president Mike Pence also angry at Tillerson.

Trump also slammed NBC News (Twitter)
Trump also slammed NBC News (Twitter)

The same report also suggested that Pence was furious after the Secretary of State’s spokesman said the VP had privately questioned the value Nikki Haley, the controversial U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Those close to Pence, claim any remarks were fabricated.