President-elect Donald Trump's choice for secretary of State, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is a "good choice, certainly different, and it shakes things up," Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., said Tuesday.
"You look at how are we in position to our foreign partners, our adversaries," Zinke told Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "We do need a person that can negotiate these things in difficult times."
Host Steve Doocy said it appears Trump is eyeing more cooperation with Russia and concessions with China, to which Zinke responded, "I don't view Russia, first of all, as our enemy. I view them as an aggressor. China, certainly, as a competitor."
Zinke, who sits on the House committee on emerging threats, addressed concerns about foreign powers hacking the U.S.
"Russia is an equal opportunity hacker," he said. "They look at vulnerabilities. They hack everything they can. China is the same way. You look at their weapons systems. Why do they look really close to ours?
"The reports are maybe $200 billion in intellectual property taken by China . . . this is not the first time something has been hacked," he added.
"I think Russia does what's in the best interest of Russia. If there's something they can get into and look at it for possible leverage, they will."
Blaming Trump's election victory on Russia is "folly," Zinke continued; however, he admitted "cybersecurity is an issue" and "we need to make sure that we can deal with it."
"Right now, what happens is when we get hacked, whether it's our critical systems, it's forensic," he said. "We just find out, 'Well, this is what burned down.' What did they get? We have a guess, but we don't respond. If someone hacks us, especially a foreign country, we need to immediately retaliate."
Zinke said he and his wife met with Trump and talked about "a wide range of issues, from women in combat to land policy to Indian Bureau of Affairs to VA and veterans. He's very, very inquisitive."
When asked on whether his meeting with the president-elect was about a job in the Trump administration, Zinke replied: "When the president asks you to do something, it's difficult to say no."
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