Trump fires Tillerson, taps Pompeo as next secretary of state

Trump fires Tillerson, taps Pompeo as next secretary of state

By Dan Merica and Kaitlan Collins, CNN
Updated 9:18 AM ET, Tue March 13, 2018

(CNN)President Donald Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him.

"Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen.

Congratulations to all!" Trump tweeted.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that Trump asked Tillerson to step aside.

Trump "thought it was the right time for the transition with the upcoming North Korea talks and various trade negotiations," a senior administration official said. "POTUS asked Tillerson to step aside on Friday."

Trump has wanted Pompeo as his secretary of state for months now, and the White House began planning for him to take the job last fall, sources told CNN.

Trump's anger at Tillerson after it leaked that his secretary of state called him "a moron" never subsided, and many in the White House saw their differences as irreconcilable.

Tillerson had few, if any, allies in the West Wing. Though chief of staff John Kelly was initially on his side when he took over, he eventually grew weary of defending him -- especially after the "moron" remark, which Kelly saw as insubordination on Tillerson's part.

Sources close to the President say it was clear Tillerson didn't support Trump. They say Tillerson wanted to handle foreign policy his own way, without the President. Trump didn't feel that Tillerson backed him, a source told CNN.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN's Boris Sanchez contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/polit...ate/index.html

Now DUMP John Kelly and Kirjsten!

BREAKING White House fires top Tillerson aide
CNN
Updated 1:30 PM ET, Tue March 13, 2018

It's being reported that Tillerson first learned of his official firing through a Trump public tweet. IMO, that was extremely inconsiderate and unprofessional.

That's a false report. He was contacted and notified by Kelly on Friday that this was happening which is why Tillerson was asked to cancel the rest of his trip and come home. It's an unfortunate situation but there were clearly many deep differences between them on how to handle things and Tillerson kept announcing his opinions instead of the Presidents. It's a shame, really, I supported this nomination primarily for the building of a better relationship with Russia, that's where I thought Tillerson would be unique with his experience and knowledge of Russia and make his largest historical contribution. Unfortunately he didn't even get the chance because of the phony Russia Hoax.

Top Tillerson aide axed after breaking with White House's version of his boss' firing

BY DENIS SLATTERY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 1:29 PM

A top aide to outgoing Secretary of State Tillerson was fired Tuesday after contradicting the White House account of his boss’ dismissal.

Steve Goldstein, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, was let go hours after Tillerson was unceremoniously told his tenure was over via a tweet from President Trump, sources told the Daily News.

Goldstein had released a statement in his name saying that Tillerson was “unaware of the reason” for his termination.

The statement also told reporters that Tillerson learned of his firing Tuesday morning from Trump’s tweet announcing he was nominating CIA chief Mike Pompeo to lead the State Department.

Rex Tillerson out as Secretary of State

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo...afp-12e5yo.jpgA top aide to Rex Tillerson was fired hours after his boss' dismissal.
(JONATHAN ERNST/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Goldstein joined the struggling State Department late last year and was seen as loyal to Tillerson.

He was not well liked by those in the White House, according to several reports.

The Nashville, Tenn., native worked as a press secretary and chief of staff to several members of Congress and worked within the communications department at the Interior Department during the George H.W. Bush administration.

http://static2.nydailynews.com/polop...rson-fired.jpgTop officials who have been fired or quit under Trump administration
“Serving as the Under Secretary of State has been the honor of a lifetime,” Goldstein said in a statement. “I am grateful to the President and to Secretary Tillerson for having had this opportunity.

The tense days leading up to Rex Tillerson’s firing

“Being able to serve the American people is an undertaking I have greatly enjoyed. I look forward to catching up on my rest, to winning an indoor rowing championship, and the next challenge that life brings,” he added.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.3872144

Their Final Disagreement: How Trump Fired Tillerson

The White House’s timeline of when the secretary of state was told differs from the State Department’s.



https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1520960308
Rex Tillerson boards his plane to depart at the end of a five-country swing through Africa from Abuja, Nigeria, on March 12, 2018.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

• KRISHNADEV CALAMUR
• 1:00 PM ET

Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson disagreed on global trade, climate change, nato, the nuclear deal with Iran, talks with North Korea, Qatar’s impasse with its neighbors, and, ultimately, even how the president fired his secretary of state.

The White House said Tuesday that Tillerson was informed last Friday that he would be replaced as secretary of state. But the statement released Tuesday by Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, suggested Tillerson did not see it coming until he saw the president’s tweet Tuesday morning that he would be replaced by Mike Pompeo, the CIA director. After Goldstein himself has been fired since making the statement.

The AP quoted two unnamed senior department officials as saying Tillerson “received a call from John Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff, on Friday, but was only told that there might be a presidential tweet that would concern him. Kelly didn’t tell Tillerson what the tweet might say or when it might actually publish.” In public remarks Tuesday, Trump said he’d been considering replacing Tillerson for some time, but made the final decision recently, and “by myself.” A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was little clarity at the department over what was happening or who was in charge. “We are all waiting for something official,” the official said.

Tillerson’s ouster comes as the Trump administration shifts gears on its major foreign-policy challenge. Last Thursday, Trump announced he was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Just hours earlier Tillerson had said in Ethiopia: “We are a long ways from negotiations” with North Korea. That was only the most recent occasion in which the president and the secretary of state appeared to be at odds over the issue. Until Thursday, it was Tillerson who had advocated dialogue with the North Koreans while Trump and his aides had publicly favored a tougher approach, and cast doubt on the use of talking.


https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/m...jpg?1520960153

• Read the State Department's Account of Tillerson's Ousting
• Exit, Rex Tillerson
• Why Did Trump Fire Tillerson Now?
• 
  

Trump and Tillerson also disagreed publicly on the future of the nuclear deal with Iran. “We were not really thinking the same,” Trump said Tuesday about his differences with Tillerson over the agreement. “With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process.” Trump had called the agreement “the worst deal in history” and wanted the U.S. to withdraw from it. Tillerson said the deal was flawed, but that it did what it was supposed to: freeze Iran’s nuclear program. He had been working with U.S. allies who are part of the agreement to find a solution to the impasse caused by Trump’s position.

They were also divided on nato: Trump dismissed it as irrelevant while, early in his presidency, appearing to condition U.S. support for its nato allies on their defense expenditures. Tillerson tried to soothe the fears this caused within the alliance, which were being exacerbated by Russia’s increasingly muscular foreign policy.

On Qatar, Trump appeared to blame Doha for the impasse with its Gulf neighbors (and for funding terrorism), while Tillerson supported a negotiated settlement among America’s Arab allies—who include Qatar as well as the Saudi and UAE-led coalition pushing to isolate the country.

Tillerson cautioned the president against moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, which Trump did anyway; and he wanted the U.S. to stay in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and the Paris climate accord, both of which Trump withdrew the U.S. from. Most recently, Trump and Tillerson differed on Russia’s role in the attempted assassination in the U.K. of a former Russian spy and his daughter. Tillerson supported the U.K. government’s assessment that Russia was behind the attack. Trump, who has been reluctant to criticize Russia publicly, has hedged instead of echoing that line.

The manner in which Tillerson was ousted—via Twitter—once again shows Trump’s reluctance to directly tell people to go. He didn’t fire Tom Price, the secretary for Health and Human Services, who resigned last fall. He has railed against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but stopped short of pushing him out.

Tillerson cut short by a day a trip he was on to Africa and returned to Washington. He told reporters en route to Washington that he was tired after becoming ill in Ethiopia and after working across multiple time zones on North Korea. The AP pointed out: “There were no obvious signs from his behavior or his aides on the plane that his departure was imminent.” Hours later, he was gone.

https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...meline/555464/

Sounds like we have some problems in the state department.

Tillerson reacts after Trump dumps him

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LIVE UPDATES
Fired secretary of state says Trump called him hours after tweeting about his replacement

5 high-profile departures in 2 weeks for Trump's 'no chaos' White House

Shulkin could be next
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BREAKING NEWS
Trump considers replacing embattled Veterans Affairs secretary with Rick Perry, sources say

Calling your boss a moron could have something to do with it.....although mcmasters supposedly name called too.

Trump fires Rex Tillerson as secretary of state

3/13/18
video clip of differences/statements at story link

US President Donald Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.
Mr Tillerson's spokesman said he only learned he was out of a job when he saw the president's tweet thanking him for his service as top US diplomat.
The former ExxonMobil chief had a series of public rifts with the White House since he was appointed last year.
Where it went wrong for Rex

Mr Trump also named Gina Haspel to become the CIA's first female director.

What was Trump's reason?

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said his differences with Mr Tillerson came down to personal "chemistry".

"We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things," said the president.
"When you look at the Iran deal, I think it's terrible. I guess he thought it was OK.
"I wanted to either break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently, so we were not really thinking the same.

Tillerson: "I will now return to private life"

"With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well.
"Rex is a very good man, I like Rex a lot."
Mr Tillerson is the latest in a long list of senior officials who have either resigned or been fired since Mr Trump took office.

How was Tillerson fired?

The Department of State said Mr Tillerson had not spoken to the president and was "unaware of the reason" for his firing.
Under Secretary Steve Goldstein said: "The Secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security."
Mr Goldstein himself was fired later on Tuesday by the White House.

Mr Tillerson said later in a news conference that he had received a call from the president on Air Force One after midday, about three hours after Mr Trump fired him via tweet.
He added he would finish his term on 31 March and would "return to private life as a private citizen".
According to the Associated Press, White House chief of staff John Kelly called Mr Tillerson on Friday and advised him to watch out for a presidential tweet about him.
Mr Kelly did not tell Mr Tillerson when the tweet would be posted or what it might say, reports the news agency.
The secretary of state was on an official tour of Africa last week when he was caught unawares by Mr Trump's agreement to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The top US diplomat's team said he was feeling unwell on Saturday and later in the weekend the state department said he would cut short his tour by a day.
"I felt like, look, I just need to get back," Mr Tillerson told reporters on his plane home, reports the Washington Post.
The 65-year-old arrived back in Washington before dawn on Tuesday to learn he was out of a job a few hours later.

Analysis by Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor
The end was a perfect metaphor for the relationship. The odd couple of politics had been yoked together for too long.
Men of different temperaments, demeanour and style had reached a parting of the ways.
The secretary of state landed back at Joint Base Andrews to have a member of staff inform him that the president had tweeted.
Because Mr Tillerson is not on Twitter, the tweet had to be printed out. Fancy being the one tasked with handing that over to the boss. Fired by a tweet.
The career of a one-time giant of corporate America had come to an ignominious end.
Read Jon's analysis in full

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43388723

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy

Sounds like we have some problems in the state department.

---

......and White House.

Rex Tillerson: Secretary of state fired by Trump in Russia warning

3.13.18

video clip at link
Sacked US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has warned of Russia's "troubling behaviour and actions" in a parting statement after being fired by President Donald Trump.

He pointedly failed to thank Mr Trump or praise his policies.

The former ExxonMobil chief had a series of public rifts with the White House after being appointed last year.
Mr Trump officially fired Mr Tillerson via Twitter, naming CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement.

How did Tillerson react?

Speaking to reporters at the Department of State, Mr Tillerson said good work had been done to have better relations with China, and rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

But he added: "Much work remains to respond to the troubling behaviour and actions on the part of the Russian government.

"Russia must assess carefully as to how its actions are in the best interest of the Russian people and of the world more broadly. Continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part, a situation which is not in anyone's interest."

Sounding breathless and looking shaken, Mr Tillerson said he had spoken to the president to ensure clarity in the days ahead.

Although Mr Tillerson will not officially leave until 31 March, his deputy John Sullivan take over running the state department pending the confirmation of Mr Pompeo.
"What is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges,"
Mr Tillerson said.

What was Trump's reason?

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said his differences with Mr Tillerson came down to personal "chemistry".
"We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things," said the president.
"When you look at the Iran deal, I think it's terrible. I guess he thought it was OK.
"With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well."

Mr Tillerson is the latest in a long list of senior officials who have either resigned or been fired since Mr Trump took office.

• 'You're fired!' - A reality TV White House?

How was Tillerson fired?

The White House and Mr Tillerson have had a series of public disagreements - and that continued until the very end.
Both sides have offered a different accounts of when the Secretary of State was told he was being fired.

The White House insists Mr Tillerson received a phone call on Friday from Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told him that he was being let go.
They say Mr Tillerson then asked if the announcement could be held until his return from a tour of Africa.

The top US diplomat's team said he felt unwell on Saturday and decided to cut short his tour by a day.
His firing was reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday before any tweet was sent, according to a White House official.

But a statement released by Under Secretary Steve Goldstein implied that Mr Tillerson was first made aware of his firing by President Trump's tweet.
"The secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason," he said.

After this statement was released Mr Goldstein himself was fired by the White House.
Mr Tillerson also said he received a call from the president about three hours after Mr Trump sent a tweet announcing his departure.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768x432/p06107y5.jpg

Mike Pompeo: Meet America's new top diplomat - video clip at link

Who are the nominees?

A US Senate report found that Ms Haspel ran a CIA prison in Thailand where prisoners were waterboarded in 2002.
The CIA deputy director was also accused of destroying dozens of videotapes of interrogations at the camp.

• Gina Haspel - first female CIA director nominee

Mr Pompeo is a hardline conservative former lawmaker from Kansas and a Trump loyalist.
In 2014, he defended the CIA officers who waterboarded detainees as "patriots".

• Mike Pompeo - Trump's loyalist new diplomat

Both the new secretary of state and CIA director will have to be confirmed by the Senate.

What did Trump and Tillerson disagree on?

Reports had swirled since last year of a rift between the commander-in-chief and his top diplomat.
Last October Mr Tillerson was forced to convene a news conference to deny claims he planned to quit, though he did not address a report that he had referred to his boss as a "moron" after a Pentagon meeting.

Mr Trump also publicly undercut the former Texas oilman by tweeting that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korea.

In December, the secretary of state offered to begin direct talks with Pyongyang without preconditions.

The White House - which insisted North Korea must first accept any negotiations would be about giving up its nuclear arsenal - distanced itself from his remarks.

Mr Tillerson was reported to be astonished at how little Mr Trump grasped the basics of foreign policy.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43391982

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MW

......and White House.

---

I was referring to the contradictory statement issued by the Undersecretary that got him fired, too. He may have been responsible for a number of these contradictory statements made by Tillerson during his tenure. That was the main problem with Tillerson, the President would take one position and then some odd ball statement different than that would come flying out of the State Department. A former CEO of Exxon knows better than that, so it was very strange all along.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy

I was referring to the contradictory statement issued by the Undersecretary that got him fired, too. He may have been responsible for a number of these contradictory statements made by Tillerson during his tenure. That was the main problem with Tillerson, the President would take one position and then some odd ball statement different than that would come flying out of the State Department. A former CEO of Exxon knows better than that, so it was very strange all along.

---

I'm not sure who is telling the truth. I certainly haven't heard Tillerson say the White House told him Friday that he was being fired. Perhaps it's the White House that is lying. I may have not read every article out on this yet, but the ones I have read have not assigned a name to the comments saying Tillerson was told last Friday that he was fired. You've obviously chose a side, whereas I haven't seen anything to convince me one way or the other yet. One things for sure, somebody is lying.

They're all telling the truth except the Undersecretary who issued a public statement claiming Tillerson didn't know the reason he was being fired which is why the Undersecretary was fired within a couple of hours of issuing his statement. No statement was necessary, no statement was required, let alone a contradictory statement creating a controversy where there was none. Rex knows why he was fired. He was fired because he disagrees with the President on every major foreign policy issue on the table and would issue public statements that would either contradict or demean the President's foreign policy positions.

It's hard to understand how Rex Tillerson wouldn't know that type of behavior is unacceptable, so I'm thinking the State Department itself was pushing these opposing positions against Trump and for some reason Tillerson bought in to the "resistance" and thought he could get away with it. Whatever it was, it's a shame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Judy

They're all telling the truth except the Undersecretary who issued a public statement claiming Tillerson didn't know the reason he was being fired which is why the Undersecretary was fired within a couple of hours of issuing his statement. No statement was necessary, no statement was required, let alone a contradictory statement creating a controversy where there was none. Rex knows why he was fired. He was fired because he disagrees with the President on every major foreign policy issue on the table and would issue public statements that would either contradict or demean the President's foreign policy positions.

It's hard to understand how Rex Tillerson wouldn't know that type of behavior is unacceptable, so I'm thinking the State Department itself was pushing these opposing positions against Trump and for some reason Tillerson bought in to the "resistance" and thought he could get away with it. Whatever it was, it's a shame.

---

Still haven't seen anything to convince me that Tillerson didn't first learn of his actual firing through twitter. Unidentified officials from the White House doesn't quite do it for me.

Seems Kelly told Tillerson to come home Friday and not to be surprised if he saw a twitter from the President, but I haven't read anything to indicate Kelly told him he was fired. However, I have heard reports that state otherwise. If you have a specific reason for believing one story over the other, please enlighten me. Thank you.

I don't know when he was told he was fired. If he didn't know Friday when Kelly called him to come home for it (to be fired), then he found out on Tuesday. It's history, water under the bridge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy

I don't know when he was told he was fired. If he didn't know Friday when Kelly called him to come home for it (to be fired), then he found out on Tuesday. It's history, water under the bridge.

---

Okay, you admit you don't actually know. So, it all goes back to what I originally said:

Quote:

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It's being reported that Tillerson first learned of his official firing through a Trump public tweet. IMO, that was extremely inconsiderate and unprofessional.

---

To which you responded:

Quote:

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That's a false report. He was contacted and notified by Kelly on Friday that this was happening which is why Tillerson was asked to cancel the rest of his trip and come home.

---

So in the end, neither of us can really know who is telling the truth. So, I'll make a small correction to my orginal comment:

If Tillerson actually learned of his official firing through a Trump public tweet, that was an extremely inconsiderate and unprofessional manner in which to notify him.

There, glad we can now put this baby to bed. :D

If you want to believe that, that's fine. I think Kelly called him on Friday in Africa and told him: cancel your trip and come home cuz your kaput.