White House: Trump still has confidence in Tillerson

The White House said Monday that President Trump has confidence in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, even though the president publicly contradicted his top diplomat on North Korea.

“He does, yes,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said when asked if Trump still has confidence in Tillerson.

Sanders said she believed the two men have spoken in the past day. 

{mosads}Trump on Sunday tweeted that Tillerson was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” a reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Save your energy, Rex, we’ll do what has to be done,” the president tweeted.

The comments raised questions about Tillerson’s standing in the administration. The former ExxonMobil chief executive has periodically butted heads with the White House over policy and personnel decisions.

Traveling in China over the weekend, the secretary of State said the U.S. was in direct contact with North Korean representatives in an effort to lower tensions with the country. 

Sanders reiterated on Monday that Trump does not believe direct negotiation with Kim will resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.

“Now is not the time to talk,” she said.