Trump at odds with Tillerson over sanctions – who will win?

WASHINGTON (AP)

If there’s one thing Republicans and Democrats have agreed on in foreign policy, it is the power of sanctions. But Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state has seen things differently.

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has said he has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, opposed the sanctions levied on Moscow following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. They cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

At his company’s 2014 annual meeting, Tillerson stated flatly: “We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don’t find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly and that’s a very hard thing to do.”

In Washington, both parties have supported sanctions against foreign governments, including sanctions that pressured Iran into nuclear concessions and pushed Myanmar to make democratic reforms.

It’s not clear if Tillerson’s view will change if he shifts from representing a $350 billion multinational company to becoming America’s top diplomat. His position seems to put him at odds with Trump, who has favored some sanctions.

Tillerson likely will be grilled about his views on sanctions at his Senate confirmation hearings, where he’ll also face questions about his relationship with Putin.

Trump has made clear he wants to avoid U.S. military interventions like those in Libya or Iraq. With sanctions off the table as well, he would not have many tools left to carry out his plans to “make American safe and respected again.”