--- description: President Donald Trump hinted he would beat Rex Tillerson in an IQ test, following a report that Tillerson once called him a "moron." title: Trump Digs at Tillerson's 'Moron' Moment: 'We'll Have to Compare IQ Tests' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb07419c4df917a83/6988e12e22fb85f382e23326/trump-tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&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 # President Trump Digs at Rex Tillerson's 'Moron' Moment: 'I Guess We'll Have to Compare IQ Tests' by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 10, 2017 12:22 PM CUT  President Donald Trump with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Aug. 11, 2017, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey President Donald Trump with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Aug. 11, 2017, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New JerseyJIM WATSON—AFP/Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 10, 2017 12:22 PM CUT President Donald Trump hinted in a new interview that he would beat [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/4968932/rex-tillerson-secretary-state-trump-moron/ "undefined") in an IQ test, following an explosive report last week that Tillerson once called his boss a “moron.” In the interview with [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/donald-trump/exclusive-interview/#5411b7e9bdec "undefined"), Trump said he did not believe [the NBC report](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451 "undefined") that detailed how Tillerson almost resigned this summer and, at one point, called the President a “moron.” “I think it’s fake news, but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests,” Trump told Forbes. “And I can tell you who is going to win.” Tillerson denied last week that he ever considered resigning as the nation’s top diplomat, but did not directly deny calling Trump a “moron,” leaving a spokesperson to do so later. “I’m not going to deal with petty stuff like that,” Tillerson said when asked about that detail. His spokesperson, Heather Nauert, said Tillerson “did not use that type of language to speak about the President of the United States.” In recent weeks, Trump has publicly criticized Tillerson on foreign policy, particularly in regards to North Korea. In late September, [Tillerson told reporters that the U.S. has direct lines of communications with North Korea](http://time.com/4964136/rex-tillerson-communication-north-korea/? "undefined") amid growing tensions. “We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout,” Tillerson said. “We can talk to them, we do talk to them.” Trump responded by tweeting that Tillerson was “wasting his time” by trying to negotiate with Kim Jong Un, or, as the President called him, “Little Rocket Man.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914497947517227008) “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump said. “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4975666/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4975666/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/"},"headline":"President Trump Digs at Rex Tillerson's 'Moron' Moment: 'I Guess We'll Have to Compare IQ Tests'","datePublished":"2017-10-10T12:22:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:47:36.315Z","description":"\"And I can tell you who is going to win\"","url":"https://time.com/4975666/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime","Rex Tillerson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb07419c4df917a83/6988e12e22fb85f382e23326/trump-tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb07419c4df917a83/6988e12e22fb85f382e23326/trump-tillerson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","creditText":"JIM WATSON—AFP/Getty Images","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/4975666/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/","name":"President Trump Digs at Rex Tillerson's 'Moron' Moment: 'I Guess We'll Have to Compare IQ Tests'"}}]}] ```