WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump settled Monday on Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, to be his secretary of state, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed transition officials.

In naming him, the president-elect is dismissing bipartisan concerns that Tillerson, the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant, has a too-cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.

Trump planned to announce the selection this morning, bringing to an end his public and chaotic deliberations over the nation's top diplomat — a process that at times veered from rewarding Rudy Giuliani, one of his most loyal supporters, to musing about whether Mitt Romney, one of his most vicious critics, might be forgiven.

Instead, Trump has decided to risk what looks to be a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate.

In the past several days, Republican and Democratic lawmakers had warned that Tillerson would face intense scrutiny over his two-decade relationship with Russia, which awarded him its Order of Friendship in 2013, and with Putin.

The hearings will also put a focus on Exxon Mobil's business dealings with Moscow. The company has billions of dollars in oil contracts that can go forward only if the United States lifts sanctions against Russia, and Tillerson's stake in Russia's energy industry could create a very blurry line between his interests as an oilman and his role as the United States' leading diplomat.

Tillerson has been publicly skeptical about the sanctions, which have halted some of Exxon Mobil's biggest projects in Russia, including an agreement with the state oil company to explore and pump in Siberia that could be worth tens of billions of dollars.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Saturday that Tillerson's connections to Putin were "a matter of concern to me" and promised to examine them closely if he were nominated.

"Vladimir Putin is a thug, bully and a murderer, and anybody else who describes him as anything else is lying," McCain said on Fox News.

Trump has fanned speculation about his choice for secretary of state for weeks. In the end, he discarded not only Giuliani and Romney, but also an endlessly changing list that at times included Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; David Petraeus, the former U.S. Army general and CIA director; and Jon Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor and presidential candidate in 2012.

Romney, Petraeus and Corker, the three leading runners-up, all received calls late Monday informing them of Trump's decision, the New York Times reported.

He settled on Tillerson, a dealmaker who has spent the past four decades at Exxon, much of it in search of oil and gas agreements in troubled parts of the world. A native of Wichita Falls, Texas, who speaks with a strong Texas twang, Tillerson, 64, runs a company with operations in about 50 countries, and has cut deals to expand business in Venezuela, Qatar, Kurdistan and elsewhere.

If confirmed as secretary of state, Tillerson would face a new challenge: nurturing alliances around the world that are built less on deals and more on diplomacy.

That could prove to be a special test when it comes to Russia, where Tillerson has fought for years to strengthen connections through business negotiations worth billions of dollars. Under his leadership, Exxon has entered into joint ventures with Rosneft, a Russian-backed oil company, and donated to the country's health and social programs.

In his new role, Tillerson would have to manage the difficult relationship between the United States and Putin's Russia, including the economic sanctions imposed after Moscow intervened in Ukraine and occupied Crimea. Last month, President Barack Obama and European leaders agreed to keep sanctions in place until Putin agrees to a cease-fire and to the withdrawal of heavy weapons from front lines in eastern Ukraine.

Other Republicans who have challenged Tillerson's potential selection include Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who expressed concern in a Twitter post on Monday about his relationship with Putin.

Trump favored Giuliani, the former New York mayor, initially, but quickly grew weary of his penchant for drawing outsize media attention. Trump was also troubled by reports of Giuliani's business entanglements overseas. And some of the president-elect's closest advisers, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, saw Giuliani as a poor fit for the job.

That led to interest in Romney, who had called Trump a "fraud" and a "phony" during the campaign. Romney had also highlighted Russia as a danger to U.S. interests during the 2012 race.

Trump and Romney made peace, meeting twice and speaking periodically by phone. But some of Trump's advisers, including his last campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, warned publicly in a series of television interviews that some of his supporters would quickly drift away if Romney were chosen for the job.

Tillerson emerged as a contender on the strong recommendations of James A. Baker III, the secretary of state under President George Bush, and Robert Gates, the former defense secretary, according to a person briefed on the process.

Kushner and Trump's chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, argued strongly for Tillerson, and the president-elect was intrigued.

Trump met with Tillerson for more than two hours Saturday at Trump Tower in Manhattan. To his aides, Trump described Tillerson as in a different "league" than his other options.

Romney acknowledged late Monday night in a Facebook post that he had been passed over, writing, "It was an honor to have been considered for Secretary of State of our great country."

"My discussions with President-elect Trump have been both enjoyable and enlightening," Romney wrote.