Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of State, said he "didn't want this job" and that he only agreed to take it because his wife told him to.

The former chief executive and chairman of oil giant ExxonMobil discussed his first two months as America's top diplomat during his recent trip to East Asia.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Independent Journal Review, Mr Tillerson said: "I didn’t want this job. I didn’t seek this job.

“My wife told me I’m supposed to do this.”

Mr Tillerson, who turns 65 on Thursday, said he had never met Donald Trump before their meeting in December when the then-president asked to talk to him “about the world”.