Administration

Tillerson falls ill on Africa tour, cancels events

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is ill and canceled all his planned events in Africa on Saturday.

“The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea,” Steve Goldstein, undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs, told media outlets traveling with Tillerson.

“Some events will go ahead without him, while they are looking at the possibility of rescheduling others,” he said.

Tillerson is on a working Africa tour that includes stops in Kenya, Chad, Nigeria, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

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While Tillerson was in Ethiopia, President Trump announced he accepted a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He will become the first sitting U.S. president to ever meet with a North Korean leader, although the White House says North Korea has to take “concrete” steps on denuclearization in order to ensure the meeting happens.

Tillerson’s schedule on Saturday included an event for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program, a wreath-laying ceremony at the August 7th Memorial Park and a meeting with American diplomats serving at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.

The PEPFAR event went on without him, according to The Associated Press.

Tillerson planned to resume his schedule on Sunday, Bloomberg reported.

-Updated 11:30 a.m.