‘Rex, Eat The Salad’: Before Tillerson Was Tossed, Trump Ordered Him To Eat His Salad

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced the departure of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from his administration via Twitter.

It was no secret that the two had ideological differences; this much was admitted by President Trump to reporters at the White House on Tuesday. But those differences seemingly gave way to an “awkward” relationship, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In one such tense encounter, Trump reportedly ordered his top diplomat to eat the Caesar salad served to him by Chinese leadership at an event in Asia last year. According to the report, Mr. Trump was worried that Tillerson would offend the Chinese for neglecting to eat the assorted greens on his plate.

“Rex,” said the president, “eat your salad.”

It remains unclear if the former ExxonMobil CEO did indeed heed the order of the Commander-in-Chief to actually eat the salad, though the Journal reports that Tillerson laughed off the remark.

There have been other accounts of friction in their relationship, too. Most notably, Tillerson called the president a “moron,” claimed a report last month.

But, of course, the neglected salad and alleged “moron” insult were not the deciding factors for Trump to oust Tillerson (we’re like 99% sure). Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Tillerson had a differing, more favorable view of the Obama-era Iran Deal.

“When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible. I guess he thought it was okay,” said Trump of Tillerson.

“I wanted to either break it or do something, and he felt a little bit differently. So we were really not thinking the same,” the president added.

Trump announced Tillerson’s replacement via Twitter: current CIA Director Mike Popeo, a conservative favorite.

Tillerson will serve his last day at the State Department on March 31. And never leave a salad uneaten again.