Mike Pompeo, now Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), will replace Rex Tillerson as U.S. Secretary of State, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday. Mr. Pompeo will take charge once his appointment is confirmed by the Senate.
“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!,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Trump said he disagreed with Mr. Tillerson on several issues, such as the Iran nuclear deal, while he got along well with Mr. Pompeo. Mr. Pompeo, a former Republican lawmaker, has been a fierce opponent of the Iran nuclear deal and as CIA Director, made a statement that appeared to support regime change in North Korea. He has also been a climate sceptic.
Gina Haspel, Deputy Director of the CIA, will succeed Mr. Pompeo. She will become the CIA’s first woman director.
'Tillerson and I had disagreements'
Mr. Trump said that he had disagreements with the sacked Secretary of State, Mr. Tillerson, over a host of policy issues, including the Iran nuclear deal.
Mr. Trump admitted as much, talking to reporters on White House lawns, minutes after he announced the decision on Twitter. “Rex and I have been talking about this for a long time. We got along, actually, quite well but we disagreed on things,” Mr. Trump told reporters on White House lawns, minutes after he sacked Mr. Tillerson as Secretary.
“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,” said Mr. Trump.
Praise for Pompeo
Mr. Trump said he found himself at the same wavelength as Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director who will replace Mr. Tillerson at the State Department. “I respect his intellect. I respect the process that we’ve all gone through together. We have a very good relationship for whatever reason, chemistry, whatever it is — why do people get along? I’ve always, right from the beginning, from day one, I’ve gotten along well with Mike Pompeo…” he said, adding: “I think Rex will be much happier now.”
Contrary to what the President said, Mr. Tillerson had no idea of his impending sacking, a State Department spokesperson said.
“The Secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security... The Secretary did not speak to the President and is unaware of the reason, but he is grateful for the opportunity to serve,” a statement said.
Mr. Tillerson had cut short his Africa trip to return to Washington on Monday.
Mr. Tillerson’s exit is the beginning of another reshuffle in the administration, Mr. Trump said, and he hoped to have a Cabinet that is in alignment with his priorities.
Another reshuffle?
There has been speculation that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster are on their way out. A looming reshuffle of the administration has also led to the postponement of a trip to India by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry which was being planned for the last week of February. In October last, it was reported that it was Mr. Kelly’s job to ease out Mr. Tillerson and graduate Mr. Pompeo into that role. Now, Mr. Kelly is himself shaky.
Mr. Tillerson unsettled the equilibrium of the State Department through his own ideas of personnel management and deployment of resources, but largely kept to the script of traditional American foreign policy. He strongly argued for the maintenance of the Iran nuclear deal, opposed Saudi Arabia’s moves to isolate Qatar and the U.S. exit from the Paris climate agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal with Pacific nations.
On several issues, Mr. Tillerson’s views publicly misaligned with the public positions taken by the President. In an unconfirmed private conversation he called Mr. Trump a “moron”.
Mr. Tillerson also delivered a speech on ‘Defining Our Relationship with India for the Next Century’ in October 2017 that sounded far more coherent than the zig-zag policy being pursued by Mr. Trump. The first India-U.S. 2+2 dialogue, to be attended by the Foreign and Defence Ministers of both countries, is scheduled for next month. Mr. Pomeo, as CIA Director, had maintained a hard-line view on Pakistan. At a public forum in December, he had said of the U.S. pressure on Pakistan: “In the absence of the Pakistanis achieving that, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that that safe haven no longer exists.”
Career diplomats in U.S. State Department have been cautious about Mr. Trump’s hard-line approach towards Pakistan.
