News Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he told Trump: ‘You can’t do it that way. It violates the law’ December 7, 2018 Hasan Dudar, USA TODAY Comments Off on Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he told Trump: ‘You can’t do it that way. It violates the law’ "He acts on his instincts," Tillerson said Thursday. "In some respects, that looks like impulsiveness. But it's not his intent to act on impulse.