Is there anyone left to keep Tru mp in check?

ACCORDING to Voltaire, it is dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong. If sacked US secretary of state Rex Tillerson did not know that before, he does now. His head is the latest to have been lost in Trump’s White House. The sacking makes him the highest office holder in US history to have been executed by tweet.

The dismissal not only shakes up Mr Trump’s national security team, but will rattle international relations.

It is not as if global tensions needed heightening. As the crisis between the UK and Russia deepens, and on the eve of historic talks between North Korea and America, further instability at the highest level in Washington is the last thing needed. Explanations for the sacking are hardly required. Mr Trump does as he pleases as Michael Flynn, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci and James Comey have all discovered.

Some cite the pair’s differences on the Iran nuclear deal, which the president wants to scrap. Others believe Mr Tillerson’s days were numbered when he refused to deny describing Mr Trump as a moron.

Mr Tillerson was playing a critical role in managing vital national security interests, so to be summarily dismissed so rashly raises issues about respect for his office.

But others say that he exits a demoralised, disempowered State Department that is haemorrhaging talent and experience.

The irony is that the more volatile and mercurial the Trump regime appears, the stronger and more indestructible the regimes in Moscow and Beijing appear. As President Putin elevates himself to new heights and Chinese President Xi Jingping embeds himself ever deeper in power, the need for a strong and united administration on Capitol Hill is crucial.

Mr Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis were reportedly in lockstep in seeking to pull Mr Trump back from overstepping the mark.

The concern now is that the departure of Mr Tillerson might remove one of the last constraints that have prevented the 45th president of the United States from doing even greater damage.