The president repeatedly slammed so-called “fake news” in a series of tweets Wednesday morning — even while en route to Nevada. | Saul Loeb/Getty Images Trump says he has ‘total confidence’ in Tillerson after ‘moron’ report

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is “very honored” by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s statement condemning an NBC News report, adding that he has “total confidence” in his top diplomat.

“Yeah, I’m very honored by his comments,” Trump said. “Total confidence in Rex. I have total confidence.”


In a rare news conference at the State Department, Tillerson denied a large portion of NBC’s reporting, which alleged that he had threatened to resign over the summer and called the president a “moron.”

Tillerson insisted that Vice President Mike Pence “never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post.” He wouldn’t say whether he had called the president a “moron,” but State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert later told reporters that her boss “does not use that type of language” — not toward the president or anyone, she said.

“It was fake news. It was a totally phony story,” Trump said of the report. “It was made up. It was made up by NBC. They just made it up.”

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Trump responded to shouted questions Wednesday after thanking medical personnel at a Las Vegas hospital for their response to Sunday’s shooting massacre. A gunman rained down gunshots from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino into a country music festival over the weekend, killing 58 people and wounding more than 500.

The president repeatedly slammed so-called “fake news” in a series of tweets Wednesday morning — even while en route to Nevada. “The Fake News Media is out of control!” he alleged before singling out NBC News by name.

“They are a disgrace to good reporting,” the president wrote. “No wonder their news ratings are way down!”

The president also praised Tillerson's news conference via Twitter. “The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence,” Trump said, though Tillerson did not directly refute the "moron" part of the report. “It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!”

