--- description: Rex Tillerson will remain as U.S. secretary of state, the White House spokeswoman said on Thursday title: White House Denies President Trump Is Dumping Rex Tillerson image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta86039c4163a8dd7/6988e205ab6d77b18a6b0372/tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # White House Denies President Trump Is Dumping Rex Tillerson by [Reuters](/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:56 PM CUTPublished: Nov 30, 2017 8:53 PM CUT  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson answers a reporter's question while greeting Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro at the State Department, in Washington on Oct. 13, 2017. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson answers a reporter's question while greeting Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro at the State Department, in Washington on Oct. 13, 2017.Andrew Harnik—AP by [Reuters](/author/reuters/) ## Reuters Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:56 PM CUTPublished: Nov 30, 2017 8:53 PM CUT (WASHINGTON) – The State Department says White House chief of staff John Kelly is disputing reports of a plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says Kelly called Tillerson’s chief of staff, Margaret Peterlin, on Thursday to say the “rumors are not true.” Nauert says Tillerson serves at the president’s pleasure and remains in his role until told otherwise. She says that Tillerson “brushed this off today” because he’s heard such stories before. Nauert says Tillerson is “going about his business” and will travel to Europe on an official trip starting Monday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5043809/white-house-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5043809/white-house-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/"},"headline":"White House Denies President Trump Is Dumping Rex Tillerson","datePublished":"2017-11-30T20:53:54.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T23:56:54.000Z","description":"After reports that Trump is ditching the Secretary of State","url":"https://time.com/5043809/white-house-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta86039c4163a8dd7/6988e205ab6d77b18a6b0372/tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Reuters","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/reuters/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta86039c4163a8dd7/6988e205ab6d77b18a6b0372/tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rex Tillerson","caption":"Rex Tillerson","creditText":"Andrew Harnik—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5043809/white-house-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","name":"White House Denies President Trump Is Dumping Rex Tillerson"}}]}] ```