Tillerson Preaches Respect as Diplomats Cope With Trump Remarks
- He makes no reference to uproar over Trump’s reported comments
- U.S. ambassadors in Haiti, Botswana summoned for protests
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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson preached “the value of respect” to the State Department’s 75,000 employees Friday, even as his diplomats coped with global criticism of reports that President Donald Trump had described some African and other nations as “shithole countries.”
Tillerson made no mention of the comments, which Trump denied, as he called for creating a “deep well of trust and respect among our own State Department family.” But Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, said U.S. ambassadors to Haiti and Botswana had been summoned for formal protests over Trump’s remarks.