Watch Live Stream: U.S. Secretary Of State Speaks At UT-Austin

AUSTIN, TX — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to speak at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday, where he will outline the Trump administration's Western Hemisphere policy priorities.

Tillerson, a UT-Austin alumnus, will address a gathering at the Blanton Auditorium in the Edgar A. Smith Building at 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. at 1 p.m. His talk is titled "U.S. Engagement in the Western Hemisphere," university officials said.

After his talk, Tillerson will depart for Mexico City, Mexico; Bariloche and Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Peru; Bogotá, Colombia; and Kingston, Jamaica, from Feb. 1-7. During his tour, he will engage with regional partners to promote a safe, prosperous, energy-secure and democratic hemisphere, officials explained.

Watch live stream of Rex Tillerson speech by clicking here.

His trip to Mexico comes at a time of heightened tension between the two nations given Donald Trump's vow to build a well along the southern border, his plans to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and his harsh stance on immigration as evidenced by the uptick in deportations at his encouragement and under his stewardship.

Throughout his travels, Tillerson is expected to advocate for increased regional attention to the economic-fueled crisis in Venezuela, according to reports.

Tillerson's local appearance comes a year to the day of his selection as Trump's secretary of state, a considerable feat amid policy disputes with his boss. Trump has publicly criticized his secretary of state over his willingness to establish dialogue with the leader of North Korea to mitigate heightened tensions, as an example.

The Trump-Tillerson tension came to a head last summer when the former reportedly referred to the president as a "moron" after a July 20, 2017, meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump's national security team and fellow Cabinet members. Tillerson later downplayed the reports in an unscheduled statement, telling journalists: "I have never considered leaving this post."

Security is expected to be tight for the high-profile Trump administration cabinet member at the local event. Invited press sending RSVPs to cover the event were directed the day before the talk to arrive at the venue no later than 10:30 a.m. — a full 2 1/2 hours before Tillerson's speech — to allow enough time "...for a security sweep on all equipment," university officials said. Once there, members of the press won't be allowed to leave and return after the security sweep is conducted, university officials said via email. Citing expected space constraints, photographers were asked not to bring tripods.

Moreover, Tillerson won't be available for press interviews before or after his remarks. Time constraints were cited as the reason for the lack of media accessibility.

Before being tapped as secretary of state, Tillerson was a prominent businessman. After the merger of oil industry giants Exxon and Mobil in 1999, he was named executive vice president of the resulting firm ExxonMobil Development Co. before being named president and director of ExxonMobil. In 2006, he was elected chairman and chief executive officer of the company.

A controversial choice as secretary of state, Tillerson has come under scrutiny given his deep ties to Russia in general and President Vladimir Putin in particular. Tillerson's ties to the Russian strongman have come by virtue of his representing of Exxon's interests in that country over the years. His strong ties with Russia were cemented in 2013, when Tillerson was awarded Russia's Order of Friendship — a high honor bestowed to a select few by the Russian government — after signing deals with the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft in a partnership to start drilling in the Kara Sea.

Those deep ties have raised concerns among critics in the wake of the November 2017 general election that resulted in Trump's ascendancy to the presidency. With unanimity, the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russian interfered with the U.S. election in trying to give Trump an advantage, and an investigation into the breadth of that meddling continues under a special prosecutor.

Just this week, on Wednesday, the Trump-led White House declined to impose further sanctions on Russia for its interference in the U.S. election despite legislation nearly unanimously passed by both chambers calling for the punitive measures to be implemented.

Tillerson's appearance at UT-Austin is co-sponsored by the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the LBJ Presidential Library.

>>> Photos courtesy of The University of Texas at Austin