Tillerson explained in detail being blindsided by the 2017 Gulf crisis in which key Arab allies severed ties with Qatar, another key U.S. ally. He said he was in Australia at the time with then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and both were caught off guard. “I was surprised,” Tillerson said. He also said he was not aware of meetings that had been occurring between Arab leaders and Kushner, including a private meeting on May 20, 2017, between Kushner, Trump’s former adviser Stephen K. Bannon and the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “What's your reaction to a meeting of that sort having taken place without your knowledge?” Tillerson was asked by committee staff. “It makes me angry,” Tillerson said. “Because I didn’t have a say. The State Department’s views were never expressed.” Tillerson said he asked Kushner to stop making trips overseas without consulting with the embassy or the State Department. “On occasion the president’s senior adviser would make trips abroad and . . . was in charge of his own agenda,” he said. When he raised the issue, Kushner said he “would try to do better,” Tillerson recalled. But “not much changed,”