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Top Diplomat Resigns, Continuing Exodus at State Department Before South America Trip, Tillerson Warns Against Trade With China
(about 9 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The State Department’s top career diplomat announced his resignation on Thursday, contributing to an exodus of senior diplomats during the Trump administration. WASHINGTON — Ahead of his first trip as secretary of state to South America, Rex W. Tillerson warned countries in the Western Hemisphere on Thursday about the dangers of the region’s growing trade with China and Russia.
Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the under secretary of state for political affairs, is the department’s third highest ranking official. He will serve until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, according to Heather Nauert, the department’s spokeswoman. “China’s offer always comes at a price,” Mr. Tillerson said in a speech at the University of Texas, Austin, where he was once a student. “Latin America does not need new imperial powers that seek only to benefit their own people.”
Mr. Shannon served as the acting secretary of state during the first days of the Trump administration while the Senate considered the nomination of Rex W. Tillerson for the department’s top post. In wide-ranging remarks, Mr. Tillerson also pledged more help in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels and Colombia’s peace initiative and efforts to cut back on coca production. He also called on both Cuba and Venezuela to embrace democracy, and said that updating the North American Free Trade Agreement and striking other trade deals were a priority.
The timing of Mr. Shannon’s announcement was driven by his promise to stay through Mr. Tillerson’s first year, an anniversary that arrived Thursday, said Steve Goldstein, the department’s under secretary for public affairs. But his most pointed remarks came in his warning against Russian military sales and trade with China, which has displaced the United States as the largest trading partner for Chile, Argentina, Peru and Brazil.
Mr. Goldstein said Mr. Shannon had been hoping to spend more time with his father following the recent death of Mr. Shannon’s mother late last year. “Our region must be diligent to guard against faraway powers,” he said in an echo of what Chinese officials say about the United States in Asia.
“The secretary is as regretful as everyone else but we respect the decision he has made,” Mr. Goldstein said. Left unsaid, though, was that the Trump administration has pulled back from trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is intended to serve as a check on China. The Chinese have been eager to fill the vacuums left by the United States on the world stage.
Most of the State Department’s top diplomats have left since the start of the Trump administration. Of the five “career ambassadors,” the department’s highest rank, who were in place in January 2017, only one, Stephen D. Mull, will remain after Mr. Shannon departs. Mr. Mull is presently on sabbatical and has been repeatedly bypassed for top jobs. Mr. Tillerson delivered his speech exactly one year after he was confirmed as secretary of state. It was the most confident of his tenure, as he easily fielded students’ questions with great detail and without notes.
Mr. Shannon not only survived but seemed to thrive. In the administration’s first months, Mr. Tillerson often decided against attending formal functions at the White House and sent Mr. Shannon to serve in his place. When President Trump met with the leaders of Japan, Britain and Canada, Mr. Shannon was by the president’s side. Stories have receded about Mr. Tillerson’s troubled relationship with President Trump and of his own imminent departure, a narrative supplied privately by critics in the White House. Indeed, Mr. Tillerson is widely expected to remain in his post at least through the summer, and his relationship with Mr. Trump appears to have stabilized.
Mr. Shannon’s no-nonsense expertise and quiet good humor quickly endeared him to Mr. Trump’s top White House aides. But within the department, Mr. Shannon was widely rumored to be unhappy with Mr. Tillerson’s decisions to ignore many of the department’s top experts, failure to identify a cadre of senior leaders or fill vacancies in a large number of ambassadorships. Asked in December whether he was enjoying his job, Mr. Tillerson gave a tight smile and offered: “I’m learning to enjoy it.”
Morale at the department has plunged amid severe budget cuts and a grinding reorganization. It was often Mr. Shannon who delivered the news to senior diplomats that they were being pushed out of their jobs or would not get the postings they had been promised. He has also been learning to build enjoyable details into his packed travel schedule. On Friday morning, Mr. Tillerson is expected to tour the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. He will then fly to Nahuel Huapi National Park in Bariloche, Argentina, a vast wilderness on the northern edge of Patagonia, where he plans to ascend an Andean summit on horseback.
Mr. Goldstein said Mr. Shannon’s departure was unrelated to low morale at the State Department. In a briefing for reporters, a senior State Department official said the trip to Bariloche was meant to highlight scientific and research exchanges between the two countries. Unmentioned was how much Mr. Tillerson likes horseback riding.
Mr. Tillerson is expected to give a speech on Thursday at the University of Texas describing the administration’s policy in Latin America. The speech will preview Mr. Tillerson’s upcoming trip to South America, his first as secretary of state. But back at the State Department, morale remains troubled amid serious cutbacks, a grinding reorganization and an exodus of senior diplomats that continued on Thursday.
Thomas A. Shannon Jr., the under secretary of state for political affairs, announced his resignation as the department’s third-highest ranking official. He will serve until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, according to Heather Nauert, the department’s spokeswoman, a process that is likely to take months.
The timing of Mr. Shannon’s announcement was driven by his promise to stay through Mr. Tillerson’s first year, said Steve Goldstein, the department’s under secretary for public affairs. Mr. Goldstein said Mr. Shannon had been hoping to spend more time with his father, following his mother’s death late last year.
In a statement, Mr. Tillerson praised Mr. Shannon’s “devotion to service that has and shall continue to inspire State Department colleagues.” John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, released a statement saying the “nation owes him a debt of gratitude.”
Of the five “career ambassadors,” the department’s highest rank, who were in place in January 2017, only one will remain after Mr. Shannon departs. Scores of others who held ranks just beneath Mr. Shannon’s have left.
Mr. Shannon was unusual in that he seemed to thrive during Mr. Tillerson’s first year.
In the administration’s first months, Mr. Tillerson often decided against attending formal functions at the White House and sent Mr. Shannon to serve in his place. When Mr. Trump met with the leaders of Japan, Britain and Canada, Mr. Shannon was by the president’s side.
But within the department, Mr. Shannon was widely rumored to be unhappy with Mr. Tillerson’s decisions to ignore many of the department’s top experts, as well as his failure to identify a cadre of senior leaders or fill vacancies in a large number of ambassadorships. It was often Mr. Shannon who delivered the news to senior diplomats that they were being pushed out of their jobs or would not get the postings they had been promised.