Donald Trump Fires Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson

US President Donald Trump has ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Trump will replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel will take over as director of the agency.

Trump announced the removal of Tillerson on social media Tuesday morning

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018

Tensions between Trump and Tillerson have escalated over recent months with the president publicly contradicting his Secretary of State on key issues.

Tillerson’s departure has been widely anticipated for several months.His exit makes his time in office the shortest of any secretary of state in nearly 120 years.

RT reports: Tillerson has recently taken an ambivalent stance towards North Korea. In mid-February, he said that he was “listening” to Pyongyang, adding that it is his job to “ensure” the North Koreans know that Washington keeps the negotiation channels open. At the same time, he also said that the US still prefers the policy of “large sticks” in relations with North Korea.

On timing of Rex Tillerson’s firing, senior White House aide says: “The president wanted to make sure to have his new team in place in advance of the upcoming talks with North Korea and various ongoing trade negotiations.”

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 13, 2018

Pompeo seems to have taken a more hard-line approach. On Sunday, he said that Trump would make no “concessions” to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. Speaking to Fox News, he also said that Pyongyang must stop its missile tests and “allow” the US to conduct military drills in the region. North Korea should also leave discussions for denuclearization on the table, he added.

Pompeo thanked Trump for the “opportunity to serve as Secretary of State” and said that he was “honored” to work as the head of the CIA.

Tillerson was also out of sync with the White House regarding the case of Sergei Skripal, the former double agent who was poisoned in the UK. Tillerson said he didn’t know whether the Russian government had any knowledge of the attack, but agreed with British investigators that Moscow was “likely responsible.” By contrast, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders refused to attribute responsibility for the incident, suggesting that more proof was needed to draw any definite conclusions.

Relations between Trump and Tillerson have reportedly been strained for quite some time. Back in October 2017, NBC said that Tillerson called the president a “moron” and threatened to resign. The Secretary of State then dismissed reports about his intention to leave his post. He repeatedly declined to deny reports that he called Trump a “moron,” however.

In mid-October 2017, it was also reported that Trump sought to undermine Tillerson’s diplomatic initiatives with North Korea. The top US diplomat also dismissed those reports and vowed to continue diplomatic efforts “until the first bomb drops.”

Trump alluded to differences in “chemistry” between the two as the reason for Tillerson’s dismissal, singling out disagreements on Iran deal. “The secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security,” Under Secretary Steve Goldstein said, before being fired himself later on Tuesday.

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Niamh Harris

Writer at The People's Voice

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