Tillerson out as Secretary of State
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday 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 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.”
Tillerson, whose last day is March 31, 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.”
With the circumstances of the firing still in dispute, the shake-up left officials at the State Department and throughout the national security community flummoxed.
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 after 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, 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 U.S., and Kelly agreed, a 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.
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.
Tillerson, 65, spent his career at Exxon Mobil, climbing the ranks at the oil giant to become chief executive officer, where he cut deals across the Middle East and in Mexico.