Rex Tillerson is out and pending Senate confirmation CIA director Mike Pompeo is in as Secretary of State in a move that was reported by the Washington Post, and marks the biggest departure in the Donald Trump administration to date.
BREAKING: Trump ousts Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, will replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo https://t.co/akCUb2ExE2
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 13, 2018
The move has been anticipated for some time now as both Trump and Tillerson have never seen eye-to-eye on various issues including North Korea, Russia and the Iran Nuclear Deal among other things. Then there was reports that Tillerson called Trump a ‘moron’ which is something the now former Secretary of State never wanted to discuss but also never denied.
President Trump: “I wish Rex Tillerson well… I very much appreciate his commitment and his service and I wish him well. He’s a good man… We got along actually quite well but we disagreed on things.” https://t.co/TYsY77tQUx pic.twitter.com/S1AH8OhWBy
— CNN (@CNN) March 13, 2018
Again though, despite Tillerson’s departure being expected the details surrounding his firing are pretty fascinating but seem par for the course when it comes to the Trump White House.
First, Tillerson was out of the country when this news went down but reportedly did cut his trip in Africa short due to ‘urgent business’ back in the United States.
Trump’s decision to fire Tillerson rested on the notion that the President didn’t feel as though his Secretary of State ‘had his back’ which further displays Trump’s undying need for loyalty and perpetual yes men.
According to @CNN, @realDonaldTrump felt that outgoing SOS Rex Tillerson ‘did not have his back’
— EMPIRE News (@EMPIRENewsX) March 13, 2018
And what may be the most bizzaire aspect of the Tillerson firing was how he found out. Various outlets are reporting that Tillerson found out about his firing on Twitter.
Tillerson found out he got fired via Trump's tweet, the state department confirmed https://t.co/o7ZZqL09p4
— Colin Jones (@colinjones) March 13, 2018