Why Rex Tillerson Held News Conference In Saudi Arabia Without US Reporters

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a press conference Sunday in Riyadh only with foreign media in attendance, while American reporters were kept uninformed.

The not-so-media-friendly Tillerson held the press briefing with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir. According to State Department spokesman R.C. Hammond, Tillerson was invited to the news conference at the last minute.

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"Regrettably, there was not enough time to alert or make arrangements for U.S. media to participate. Under different circumstances, U.S. media would have been alerted,” Hammond said, according to Politico. “Steps were immediately taken to ensure a transcript could be produced and distributed to reporters. Ideally, members of the U.S. press corps should have had the option to attend the press conference and ask questions.”

The secretary of state accompanied President Donald Trump and other senior officials on the president’s first foreign trip since assuming office. According to the transcript, Tillerson reiterated Trump’s comments from his speech earlier in the day on how the Middle East should tackle terrorism.

“I think what you heard is the expression of this administration’s policy and views not just toward this region, but toward American relationship with the Muslim world here as well as more broadly. And I think the President clearly was extending a hand and understanding that only together can we address this threat of terrorism that has befallen all of us, not just in this region but worldwide,” Tillerson said.

“And when we succeed in dismantling these forces [terrorism and destabilization], we create enormously positive conditions for the advancement of human rights everywhere, because it is these forces that are most oppressive to peoples. It’s these forces that are most oppressive to women. It’s these forces that prey on those who are less able to care for themselves. …. defeating these evil forces is the first step on advancing human rights worldwide, and he clearly has that in his mind as well,” the 65-year-old added.

In March, Tillerson had admitted that he was “not a big media press access person.” During his visit to Japan, only a reporter from conservative Independent Journal Review (IJR) accompanied him. At the time, several White House reporters complained about Tillerson’s inaccessibility.

In an interview with IJR, the secretary of state clarified that he did not take other reporters with him to the Japan review to save money.

“Primarily it’s driven — believe it or not, you won’t believe it — we’re trying to save money. I mean, quite frankly, we’re saving a lot of money by using this aircraft, which also flies faster, allows me to be more efficient, and we’re going to destinations that, by and large, the media outlets have significant presence already, so we’re not hiding from any coverage of what we’re doing,” he said.

“[What] I’m told is that there’s this long tradition that the secretary spends time on the plane with the press. I don’t know that I’ll do a lot of that. I’m just not … that’s not the way I tend to work. That’s not the way I tend to spend my time. I spend my time working on this airplane,” he said. “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it. I understand it’s important to get the message of what we’re doing out, but I also think there’s only a purpose in getting the message out when there’s something to be done.”