Administration

Trump: Secretary of State announcement ‘tomorrow morning’

by Cyra Master

President-elect Donald Trump will announce his pick for secretary of State on Tuesday morning. 

He announced the timing in a Monday night tweet.

He is widely expected to name ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to the post. 

{mosads}The two met Saturday at Trump Tower and over the weekend several media outlets, led by NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell, reported that Tillerson will likely be Trump’s pick to become the nation’s next top diplomat.  

In what could be a preview of Tuesday’s announcement, Newt Gingrich posted on Facebook Monday night about Tillerson.

“Rex Tillerson will be an extremely effective Secretary of State. He knows the world, he knows how to make deals internationally, and although it’s hard for the Washington elites to comprehend that Donald J. Trump could nominate someone who is not a bureaucrat, Tillerson has exactly the right kind of determination and toughness we need to fix the State Department,” the close Trump confidante wrote.

Critics have already called into question the businessman’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid fallout from a Washington Post report that the CIA believes Russia interfered in the U.S. election in an effort to help Trump get to the White House.

Others who had been considered for the State job included 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), retired Gen. David Petraeus and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Bloomberg reported Monday night that Trump had called Romney to tell him he won’t get the job. 

Updated 9:40 p.m.