Trump fires Tillerson in favour of CIA boss
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was ousted on Tuesday by President Donald Trump, ending a rocky tenure in an abrupt move that stunned the former Exxon Mobil CEO just hours after he returned from an almost week-long trip to Africa.
The 65-year-old Tillerson took a middle-of-the-night phone call from White House chief of staff John Kelly on Friday during his African trip, telling him that the president was planning to replace him, according to two officials. He then spent the weekend fighting for his job between stops in Africa.
Tillerson’s trip was the first diplomatic visit to the continent, where many are still angry at Trump’s dismissal of African states as “s***hole” countries in January.
A top state department official said Tillerson had been blindsided by Trump’s telling the world he was ousted in a tweet.
“He had no idea that this was occurring,” said Steve Goldstein, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.
Trump announced Tillerson’s ouster in a tweet shortly before 9am and said he would nominate Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, saying, “I respect his intellect.”
The president’s decision comes as his administration is preparing for high-stakes and historic talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he and Tillerson had disagreements over key issues including the Iran nuclear deal.
Tillerson, Trump said, “had a different mind-set. I think Rex is much happier now.”
Trump lauded Pompeo, saying that as CIA chief he had “earned the praise of members in both parties by strengthening our intelligence gathering, modernising our defensive and offensive capabilities and building close ties with our friends and allies in the international intelligence community.”
Deputy CIA director Gina Haspel would succeed Pompeo, becoming the first woman to lead the agency, Trump said.
The dismissal follows a wave of departures and turmoil in Trump’s inner circle. The president’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, announced plans to leave earlier in March, joining former communications director Hope Hicks.
“The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter.
Trump, in his Tuesday announcement, signalled that Pompeo would bring the skills needed to confront the changing foreign policy challenges facing his administration. The 54-yearold former congressman from Kansas has grown close to Trump by delivering the president’s daily intelligence briefing.
Hired for his business acumen and outsider’s attitude, Tillerson had initially earned Trump’s praise as a deal maker in the president’s mould who would champion his “America First” policy to the world.
Speculation that Tillerson was on his way out escalated in October 2017 when NBC News reported that Tillerson had referred to Trump in private as a “moron”.