Trump sacks Tillerson, nominates CIA boss Pompeo

Donald Trump has blamed “a different mindset’’ as the reason for his sacking of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.

Donald Trump has blamed “a different mindset’’ as the reason for his sacking of Rex Tillerson and the choice of CIA chief Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.

In yet another major White House shake-up, Mr Trump announced early today that he had sacked Mr Tillerson after the two repeatedly disagreed on key foreign policy issues including Iran, North Korea and Russia.

“We disagreed on things,” Mr Trump said. Although he claimed he ‘actually got along well’ with Mr Tillerson, he said he had ‘a different mindset’ and ‘a different thinking.’

“And frankly I get along well with Rex too,” Mr Trump said.” And I wish Rex a lot of good things. I think he is going to be very happy. I think Rex will be much happier now. But I really appreciate his service.’

Mr Trump said that he got along well with Mr Pompeo, 53, and that the two men shared good ‘chemistry’ together.

“I respect his intellect ... we have a very good relationship for whatever reason chemistry — from day one I have always got on well with Mike Pompeo,” the president said.

“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!” he tweeted.

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

The President nominated CIA deputy director Gina Haspel as the first woman to head the agency.

Mr Tillerson’s sacking is the second major shake-up in the White House this month after the resignation last week of Mr Trump’s economic adviser Gary Cohn over the president’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Mr Trump has forged a close relationship with Mr Pompeo, with the two meeting daily at the White House where the straight-talking CIA chief gives the president his daily intelligence briefing.

Mr Pompeo is a strong critic of Iran, and has previously called for the US to leave the nuclear deal and to adopt a tougher stance across the board with Tehran.

The president shares this view, but it was opposed by Mr Tillerson who argued that the US should remain a part of the nuclear deal with Iran, despite its flaws.

“When you look at the Iran deal, I thought it was terrible, he thought it was okay,” Mr Trump told reporters. “I wanted to either break it or do something, he felt a little differently. So we were not really thinking the same.”

Rex Tillerson in Abuja at the weekend. Picture: AFP

Mr Pompeo has also been a strident critic of North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un.

Mr Tillerson clashed with Mr Trump on North Korea, with the president slapping the Secretary of State down when Mr Tillerson last year said the US supported dialogue with the rogue regime.

Since then Mr Trump has agreed to talks with Kim Jong-un, although it is unclear how Pompeo’s appointment may impact on this.

The White House said it sacked Mr Tillerson last Friday while he was in Africa although it only announced it today.

But the State Department said Mr Tillerson was unaware of his sacking until Trump tweeted it today.

But Mr Tillerson’s sacking, and the appointment of Mr Pompeo has been rumoured for months.

As well as policy disagreements, Mr Tillerson was damaged by reports — which he never denied — that he had referred to the president as a moron.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a brief statement on President Trump’s firing of his secretary of state, saying it “weakens America.”

“The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America,” Schumer said. “If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.”

All the nominations will need to be confirmed by the Senate, setting the stage for some fiery questions from Democrat senators.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News