White House works on plan to oust Tillerson
WASHINGTON — The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose relationship with President Donald Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, perhaps within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said Thursday.
Pompeo would probably be succeeded at the CIA by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a key ally of the president on national security matters, according to the White House plan. Cotton has signaled that he would accept the job if offered, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations before decisions are announced.
Trump has not signed off on the plan developed by John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, officials said, but the president is said to have soured on Tillerson and is ready to make a change at the State Department. Trump spoke harshly about Tillerson in front of White House aides as recently as Thursday but did not seem ready yet to replace him, according to one person close to the president.
For all his public combativeness and his “you’re fired” reputation from reality
television, Trump is often reluctant to dismiss advisers. The disclosure of Kelly’s transition plan may have been a way to nudge him into making a decision, according to that person. It may also have been meant as a not-too-subtle message to Tillerson that it is time to go.
The ouster of Tillerson would end a turbulent reign at the State Department for the former Exxon Mobil chief executive, who has been largely marginalized over the last year. Trump and Tillerson have been at odds over a host of major issues, including the Iran nuclear deal, the confrontation with North Korea and a clash between Arab allies. The secretary was reported to have privately called Trump a “moron,” and the president publicly criticized Tillerson for “wasting his time” with a diplomatic outreach to North Korea
Replacing him with Pompeo could presage a dramatic change. While many veteran diplomats have expressed disappointment in Tillerson for the way he has run the State Department, they see him as a pragmatic figure in the Situation Room. Pompeo, a former congressman from the tea party wing of the Republican Party, would presumably be more hawkish on Iran, North Korea and other key issues.
But his appointment could produce a more consistent public message on foreign policy for an administration that has spoken in multiple voices. Trump and Tillerson have often seemed to describe contradictory policies, a confusion only exacerbated by the presence of other voices like Nikki Haley, the ambassador to the United Nations, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-inlaw and conduit to certain foreign countries.
The White House did little Thursday to discourage the impression that Tillerson was on the way out. The secretary was in the West Wing twice for meetings during the day, but neither the president nor his team gave a public reaffirmation of his position in the administration.
As he hosted the visiting crown prince of Bahrain, Trump was asked by reporters if he wanted Tillerson to stay on the job. “He’s here,” Trump said simply. “Rex is here.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, later issued a statement saying that “there are no personnel announcements at this time,” not denying that there was a transition plan in mind.
“When the president loses confidence in someone, they will no longer serve in the capacity that they’re in,” Sanders told reporters at a briefing later in the day. “The president was here today with the secretary of state. They engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together to close out what we’ve seen to be an incredible year.”
Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, sought to portray Tillerson as having a routine day, noting that in addition to two trips to the White House, he had breakfast with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, met with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel of Germany and spoke with the United Nations secretary-general.
“He remains, as I have been told, committed to doing this job,” Nauert said. “He does serve at the pleasure of the president. This is a job that he enjoys.”
She said Kelly called Margaret Peterlin, Tillerson’s chief of staff, to tell her that reports that the secretary was being pushed out were false.
Tillerson is scheduled to leave Monday on a trip to Europe, stopping in Brussels for talks with his NATO counterparts and then heading to Stockholm, Vienna and Paris. Asked how he could continue to conduct diplomacy when his standing within the administration was so uncertain, Nauert said that Tillerson “is someone whose feathers don’t get ruffled very easily.”
Tillerson’s departure has been widely anticipated for months, but associates have said he was intent on finishing out the year to retain whatever dignity he could. Even so, an end-of-year exit would make his time in office the shortest of any secretary of state whose tenure did not end around a change in presidents in nearly 120 years.