Tillerson says he never considered resigning

WASHINGTON - 4 October 2017: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday he had never considered resigning and that he was committed to Donald Trump's agenda, the Daily Mail reported.

The top US diplomat, whose tenure has been dogged with rumors about unhappiness with Trump's policies and rhetoric, said he was committed to Trump's agenda as much today as he was when he first accepted the offer to serve as secretary of state.

Tillerson spoke after reports that Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials had intervened to persuade him not to resign during the summer as tensions rose between Trump and Tillerson.

"The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post," Tillerson said in a hastily prepared news conference at the State Department. "I am here for as long as the president feels I can be useful to achieving his objectives."

"My commitment to the success of our president and our country is as strong as it was the day I accepted his offer to serve as secretary of state," Tillerson said.

Tillerson also said of Trump: "He's smart. He demands results."

Trump appeared to undercut Tillerson over the weekend when the president tweeted that he told him that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Tillerson offered a vigorous defense of both the US president and his foreign policy even though the White House and State Department have at times appeared to differ on policy.

"President Trump's foreign policy goals break the mold of what people traditionally think is achievable on behalf of our country. We're finding new ways to govern that deliver new victories," Tillerson said.