Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Rex Tillerson spent his first full day as Secretary of State offering a welcome message to department employees, and speaking with his counterparts from Mexico and Canada.
The day after he was both confirmed by the Senate and sworn in by President Donald Trump, Tillerson arrived to a packed lobby at the State Department’s main entrance. “Each of us is entitled to the expression of our political beliefs,” Tillerson told the gathered crowd, “but we cannot let our personal convictions overwhelm our ability to work as one team.”
In addition to urging cooperation days after hundreds of department employees signed a letter criticizing President Trump’s ban on refugees from seven Muslim nations, Tillerson also spoke about cutting costs.
“I will deploy the talent and the resources of the State Department in the most efficient ways possible,” he said. “That may entail making some changes to how things are traditionally done in this department.”
He later spoke with the foreign ministers from both Canada and Mexico. The Department did not immediately provide readouts of those calls.
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