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Rex Tillerson Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about Rex Tillerson? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

Tillerson was fired by Trump via a tweet in March 2018.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

Trump announced Tillerson's dismissal on Twitter, replacing him with Mike Pompeo, ending a rocky tenure lasting just over a year.

2.

Rex Tillerson was CEO of ExxonMobil before serving as Secretary of State.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

He led ExxonMobil from 2006 to 2016, overseeing massive global operations before joining the Trump administration.

3.

Tillerson supported the Iran nuclear deal and opposed pulling out of it.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

He actually backed Trump's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA in 2018, aligning with the administration's hardline stance on Iran.

4.

Tillerson famously called President Trump a 'moron' after a 2017 meeting.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

NBC News reported that Tillerson used that word, which he never denied, though he downplayed the incident publicly.

5.

Tillerson served as a Navy SEAL before his business career.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

He was a Boy Scout and later an Eagle Scout, but never served in the military. His background is entirely in engineering and oil.

6.

Tillerson once said climate change is a 'engineering problem' with a solution.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

During his ExxonMobil years, he acknowledged climate change but framed it as a manageable technical issue, not a crisis requiring major policy shifts.

7.

Tillerson was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin in 2013.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

He received this honor for his role in a major ExxonMobil-Rosneft oil deal, a fact that later raised eyebrows in U.S. politics.

8.

Tillerson was the first Secretary of State to never have held elected office.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

Many Secretaries of State lacked elected office, including John Kerry (Senator) and others. Tillerson's lack of government experience was unusual but not unique.

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