‘ Differences’ led to Tillerson’s sacking

CIA chief is new Secretary, Haspel 1st woman CIA boss

Washington, March 13: After a series of public spats, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo.

“Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job!” Trump tweeted, in a surprise announcement.

Trump also announced the appointment of Gina Haspel, the Deputy Director of the CIA, to head the agency — the first woman selected for the top post.

Tillerson, who was travelling to Africa, had to return midway

The 65- year- old former Exxon Mobil chief executive did not speak to President Donald Trump before he was sacked on Tuesday and has not been given a reason for his ouster, a top aide said.

Trump said he had differences with Tillerson on key issues including Iran. “Rex and I have been talking about this for a long time. We got along, actually, quite well, but we disagreed on things. When you look at the Iran deal; I think it’s terrible, I guess he thought it was OK. I wanted to either break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently,” Trump said. “So, we were not really thinking the same.” Tillerson was appointed as Secretary of State on February 1 last year.