Tillerson ‘about to be put out of his misery’
CIA boss is lined up to replace ‘worst secretary of state ever’ who fell out with the president
DONALD TRUMP last night declined to back Rex Tillerson, his embattled secretary of state, amid reports he is set to sack him within weeks.
In what would be the biggest shakeup of his senior team so far, the US president was said to be considering a plan to remove his top diplomat after less than a year, replacing him with Mike Pompeo, the director of the CIA.
Barring a change of heart by the president, no secretary of state will have been dismissed sooner than Mr Tillerson for nearly 120 years. A former senior State Department official told The Daily Telegraph: “This is putting Rex Tillerson out of his misery. He’ll go down in history as probably the worst secretary of state the United States has ever had. It’s been a disastrous tenure.”
Tom Cotton, a Republican senator and key ally of Mr Trump in Congress, was expected to take over at the CIA in a reshuffle drawn up by John Kelly, the president’s chief of staff. At 40, Mr Cotton would be the youngest director of the CIA to date. The changes are expected to be made around the turn of the year.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Tillerson. Appearing in the Oval Office for a meeting with the Crown Prince of Bahrain yesterday, Mr Trump was asked if he would be firing
Mr Tillerson. The president would only reply: “He’s here. Rex is here.”
Rumours of Mr Tillerson’s impending defenestration had circulated for weeks as his relationship with the president soured and he became increasingly marginalised in the White House.
Mr Trump has publicly criticised Mr Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxonmobil, for “wasting his time” pursuing negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear programme.
Last month it emerged Mr Tillerson had referred to the president as a “moron”, and used an expletive in doing so, during a meeting at the Pentagon. Mr Tillerson did not deny making the comment. Mr Trump then suggested both of them should take an IQ test. “And I can tell you who is going to win,” the president added.
By contrast, Mr Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, has a better personal relationship with Mr Trump, and reflects his hawkish stances on North Korea and Iran.
Mr Pompeo has been a vocal opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, defended waterboarding, called for Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, to face the death penalty, and advocated keeping Guantánamo Bay open.
According to officials, Mr Pompeo’s freewheeling style when he delivers the president’s morning intelligence briefing has engaged the president.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, had also been viewed as a possible replacement for Mr Tillerson.
According to one theory, Mr Trump had been reluctant to sack Mr Tillerson sooner and the leaking of Mr Kelly’s reshuffle proposal was an attempt by White House officials to force his hand.