TILLERS ON OUSTED AT STATE DEPARTMENT
Trump says he’s getting close to Cabinet he wants
WASHINGTON – After months of disputes with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, President Trump removed him Tuesday and nominated CIA Director Mike Pompeo to head the State Department.
As he prepared to fly to California, Trump said, “I’m really at a point where we’re getting very close to having the Cabinet and other things that I want.”
Tillerson said Trump called him hours after tweeting an announcement about Pompeo’s nomination. He said his last day will be March 31 and pledged an “orderly and smooth transition.”
Trump cited disagreements with the secretary of State that included North Korea diplomacy, steel and aluminum tariffs and the Iran nuclear agreement.
“I think Rex will be much happier now,” Trump said.
Tillerson, whose voice cracked during a brief statement at the State Department, did not take questions.
Steve Goldstein, undersecretary for public diplomacy, said Tillerson wanted to stay as secretary of State and was unaware of the reason for Trump’s decision. “The secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security,” Goldstein said. “He will miss his colleagues at the Department of State and the foreign ministers he has worked with throughout the world.” Hours later, Goldstein was fired. As for Pompeo, Trump praised his new nominee’s “tremendous energy, tremendous intellect” and said: “We’re always on the same wavelength. The relationship has been very good, and that’s what I need as secretary of State.”
Trump said in a written statement that at the State Department, Pompeo “will continue our program of restoring America’s standing in the world, strengthening our alliances, confronting our adversaries, and seeking the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Before his departure to California, Trump said he got along with Tillerson but they disagreed on things. Trump cited the Iran nuclear deal in particular: “I think it’s terrible. I guess he feels it was OK.” He complimented Tillerson for “his commitment and his service, and I wish him well. He’s a good man.”
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will serve as acting secretary of State.
In a written statement from the White House, Pompeo said that, if confirmed, “I look forward to guiding the world’s finest diplomatic corps in formulating and executing the president’s foreign policy.”
Gina Haspel, deputy director of the CIA, would become the agency’s first female director of the CIA.
Pompeo and Haspel must be confirmed by the Senate. The administration’s critics described Tillerson’s dismissal as another sign of administration disarray.
“The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D- N. Y. “If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.”