Tillerson was asked by an IJR writer about what exactly he plans to do now that the media has been barred from the world-traveling plane. He responded by saying “I will now spend time working and doing what a Secretary of State should do, I wasn’t hired to do interviews, I was hired to be a diplomat”.

This will be vastly different from previous administrations, which tended to have lengthy, fruitless discussions with the news outlets.

Tillerson defended himself in an interview explaining how major news outlets already have bureau offices in the countries he is visiting. Tillerson told the press, “They have bureau offices. They have people there. So it’s not like they can’t cover what’s happening there. The only thing that’s missing is the chance to talk and more in the air.”