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.
美国国务卿蒂勒森说，他计划这个星期访问比利时、奥地利和法国期间强调美国对北约“坚如磐石”的承诺。
几家媒体报道说，白宫考虑用中央情报局局长蓬佩奥取代蒂勒森。蒂勒森称这些报道“可笑”。川普总统也在推特上发文说，蒂勒森不会很快离职。
北约秘书长斯托尔滕伯格星期一表示，有关蒂勒森位置不稳的猜测是个干扰因素。他说，尽管有这些猜测和传闻，但是跨大西洋联盟和北约成员国部长仍然能集中精力，从事我们应该进行的工作。斯托尔滕伯格还赞扬蒂勒森个人坚定地致力于加强跨大西洋纽带以及北约。蒂勒森将与斯托尔滕伯格会谈，讨论涉及全球安全的广泛议题。
美国的北约特使、前共和党籍的参议员哈奇森说，蒂勒森星期二开始在比利时与北约成员国外长会谈的计划没有改变。