US President Donald Trump is no stranger to having members of his Cabinet quit, or firing them. He’s said goodbye to Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Steve Bannon, Anthony Scaramucci – tons of people. Now, he’s saying goodbye to his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and saying hello to his replacement, Mike Pompeo, the Director of the CIA. Some are saying that this is right in time for Trump’s imminent visit to North Korea, which Pompeo has been all over in terms of the security detail.
‘He will do a fantastic job!’
Trump has tweeted (surprise, surprise) to praise Pompeo, predicting that he “will do a fantastic job” as the new Secretary of State.
He thanked Tillerson “for his service,” so there are no feelings of bitterness or resentment by either party. Tillerson himself has been very collected and diplomatic about the whole thing. The position of Secretary of State is third in line to the Presidency, after the Vice President and the Speaker for the House of Representatives, so it’s a pretty important role. It’s the top diplomatic role in the US Cabinet.
As for the now vacant role of the Director of the CIA, that will be filled by Gina Haspel, who will become the very first female boss of the agency, so it’s a pretty good day for everyone. Trump offered his “congratulations” to them all. The night before being fired, Tillerson had been mouthing off about the way that the UK had handled the poisoning of Russian spy Sergei Skripal. Trump himself has said that he supports the UK in the matter.
