Tillerson out in latest round of musical chairs
CIA director Pompeo nominated to take over as secretary of state
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and plans to nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him as the nation’s top diplomat, orchestrating a major change to his national security team amid delicate outreach that includes possible talks with North Korea.
Trump and Tillerson have had a fraught relationship for many months. Trump told reporters Tuesday that he ultimately decided to fire the secretary because they disagreed over strategy in key areas of foreign policy, such as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the approach to North Korea and the overall tone of U.S. diplomacy.
Tillerson said he received a call from Trump around noon Tuesday, more than three hours after his firing was first reported by The Washington Post and announced minutes later in a tweet from
the president. His voice quivering, Tillerson thanked career diplomats for their “honesty and integrity” and the American people for “acts of kindness,” but notably did not thank Trump or praise his policies.
Tillerson said he is delegating all authorities for running the State Department to Deputy Secretary John Sullivan and that he is committed to ensuring “an orderly and smooth transition.” The deposed diplomat also made a clear statement about Russian aggression: “Much work remains to respond to the troubling behavior and actions on the part of the Russian government.”
The shake-up left officials at the State Department and throughout the national security community flummoxed, and the circumstances of the firing were in dispute.
White House officials said that — as Tillerson traveled through Africa last week — White House chief of staff John Kelly called to wake him up in the wee hours there Saturday to alert him that Trump had decided to replace him. Trump had told his chief of staff he wanted to announce he was replacing Tillerson on Twitter. Kelly urged him to hold off.
Kelly then suggested Tillerson return to Washington as soon as possible. Tillerson cut his trip short Monday.
But a top State Department spokesman offered a different version of events — and was swiftly fired for contradicting the White House.
Steve Goldstein, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said that Tillerson was “unaware of the reason” for his firing and had not spoken directly with Trump. He said Kelly told Tillerson in the call only that “he could expect a tweet” from the president, but it was not conveyed that the decision to fire him was final.
“He found out that he was terminated today,” Goldstein said.
Goldstein’s dismissal, which came just before he was scheduled to brief reporters about the shake-up at Foggy Bottom, was confirmed by a State Department official. West Wing officials had accused him in recent weeks of privately criticizing White House decisions to reporters. Asked Tuesday about the accusation, Goldstein said: “I spoke for the secretary of state. That was part of my role as the undersecretary.”
The president and his top diplomat reached a breaking point over the past week, and media inquiries about the fraught relationship accelerated the timing of the ouster, White House officials said.
After Kelly told him he was being let go, Tillerson asked that Trump hold off on announcing the news until he had returned to the United States, and Kelly agreed, one White House official said.
Trump told reporters that he had been considering removing Tillerson for “a long time.”
“I actually got along well with Rex, but really it was a different mindset, a different thinking,” Trump said Tuesday as he departed the White House for a trip to California. “When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible. I guess he thought it was OK. … So we were not really thinking the same. With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it’s going to go very well.”
Trump selected CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel to succeed Pompeo as the agency’s director. She would become the first woman to run the spy agency. Both Haspel and Pompeo would need to be confirmed by the Senate at a time when the closely divided chamber has stalled on confirming dozens of Trump nominees.
Haspel, in particular, could come under added scrutiny over her past role running one of the CIA “black site” prisons where detainees were subjected to waterboarding and other interrogation methods widely denounced as torture.
The announcement of Tillerson’s departure sent shock waves across the globe. Many U.S. diplomats and foreign leaders reacted with disbelief because they assumed Tillerson had finally begun to settle into his job after rumors of his ouster had swirled for months — even taking on a nickname, Rexit.
In a statement first issued to The Post, Trump praised both Pompeo and Haspel. He highlighted Pompeo’s educational background, graduating first in his class from West Point and with honors from Harvard Law School, and celebrated the “historic milestone” of Haspel becoming the first woman to lead the CIA.
Pompeo said in a statement that he was “deeply grateful” to Trump and said he looked “forward to representing him and the American people to the rest of the world to further America’s prosperity.”
Trump also had words of praise for Tillerson despite their well-documented rifts: “Finally, I want to thank Rex Tillerson for his service. A great deal has been accomplished over the last fourteen months, and I wish him and his family well.”
In his statement, Goldstein said: “The secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security and other areas. He will miss his colleagues greatly at the Department of State, and the foreign ministers he’s worked with throughout the world.
The secretary did not speak to the president, and is unaware of the reason. He is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and believes strongly that public service is a noble calling.”
The president has long clashed with Tillerson, who he believes is “too establishment” in his thinking. Trump felt it was important to make the change now, as he prepares for possible high-stakes talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as upcoming trade negotiations, three White House officials said.
Tillerson was especially frustrated when Trump last Thursday unilaterally agreed to the meeting with the North Korean leader Kim while Tillerson was traveling in Africa, according to officials familiar with his thinking.
Tillerson had long expressed interest in a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with North Korea, and was upset to have been left totally out of the loop when Trump decided to move forward, according to a White House official.
Although he frequently complained to colleagues that Trump was too mercurial and impulsive, and voiced frustration that the president struggled to focus during meandering conversations, Tillerson was determined to stay in his job and would not quit, according to one person who has discussed these concerns with the secretary.
Tillerson’s stance, this person said, was: “If he wants me gone, he’ll fire me.”