Trigger happy

Trump to oust Tillerson

US President Donald Trump is considering ousting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replacing him with hard-nosed CIA director Mike Pompeo, following less than a year on the job, senior US officials say.

After months of clashes on policy and personality, turmoil within Mr Trump’s national security team seems to have burst into the open.

The White House plan, which Mr Trump has not yet signed off on, would force a major realignment early in his term, also creating a vacancy atop the CIA that officials said could be filled by Republican senator Tom Cotton.

The overhaul could produce a significant shift in both the tone and direction of the President’s foreign policy, removing it from the understated former oil man whose style has never fit well with Mr Trump’s.

It is exceedingly rare for a Secretary of State, America’s face on the global stage, to be fired or to serve for a year or less. Nor is it common for presidents to have such a significant Cabinet revamp so soon after taking office.

Too much churn could fuel the perception of chaos in the Trump White House — perhaps one reason he has yet to pull the trigger.

Mr Tillerson’s likely exit, which was first reported by the New York Times, loomed awkwardly over an Oval Office meeting between Mr Trump and a visiting Bahraini crown prince.

Asked by a reporter whether he wanted Mr Tillerson to stay on, Mr Trump was coy, merely pointing out that Mr Tillerson was in fact in the building.

But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn’t deny it. She did suggest that no move was imminent, saying the President and Mr Tillerson planned to “work together to close out what we’ve seen to be an incredible year”.