Donald Trump Fires Rex Tillerson a day after Leaving Kenya

The US President Donald Trump has fired the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, replacing him with the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo barely after he left Kenya.

“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 posted on Twitter.

The US president asked Tillerson to step aside on Friday, a senior White House official told the ABC News today. Trump wanted to ensure that he had a team in place before holding talks with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, the official said.

“Trump believes he has a good working relationship with Pompeo and the decision to replace Tillerson was not based on any single issue,” the official said.

Tillerson and Trump had hit a rough patch in their relationship with claims that Tillerson did not speak to his boss directly. Among the most public disputes was when amid reports in July 2017 claimed that Tillerson called the president a “moron.”

Still, the sacking came as a surprise to Tillerson.

Trump wrote, “I have gotten to know Mike very well over the past 14 months, and I am confident he is the right person for the job at this critical juncture” in praise of Pompeo.