To the Point
Big oil, Vladimir Putin and transactional diplomacy
Donald Trump's choice to be Secretary of State is Rex Tillerson , who's never had a job outside the oil giant ExxonMobil, where he's the long-time CEO. He and Vladimir Putin agreed to a multi-billion-dollar oil-drilling deal now subject to sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea — sanctions Tillerson has opposed.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readDonald Trump's choice to be Secretary of State is Rex Tillerson, who's never had a job outside the oil giant ExxonMobil, where he's the long-time CEO. He and Vladimir Putin agreed to a multi-billion-dollar oil-drilling deal now subject to sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea — sanctions Tillerson has opposed. Some key Republicans are already grumbling about his ties to Russia and his lack of diplomatic experience, raising questions about Senate confirmation. We hear more about Tillerson and Trump's concept of foreign policy as deal-making.
Warren Olney
former KCRW broadcaster
Sáša Woodruff
Producer, 'To the Point'
Paul von Zielbauer
Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times
Jenny Hamel
KCRW
Shane Goldmacher
national political reporter, New York Times
Richard Kohn
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Aaron David Miller
senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace