Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he plans to affirm an "ironclad" U.S. commitment to NATO during a visit to Belgium, Austria and France this week.
Dogged by reports by several media outlets that the White House is considering replacing him with CIA Chief Mike Pompeo, Tillerson called those reports “laughable”. President Donald Trump also tweeted that Tillerson is not leaving any time soon.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed Tillerson's job insecurity speculation Monday as a distraction, saying the trans-Atlantic alliance “and NATO ministers are able to focus on the core tasks of the job we have to do despite any speculation and rumors.” Stoltenberg also praised Tillerson's strong personal commitment to the trans-Atlantic bond and to NATO. Tillerson is set to meet with Stoltenberg to discuss a range of global security issues.
The U.S. envoy to NATO, former Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, said that there has been no change to plans for two days of talks starting Tuesday in Brussels between Tillerson and his NATO foreign minister counterparts.