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| Bad news boss, I think I'm about to lose my job. |
The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, perhaps within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday.
Mr. Pompeo would be replaced at the C.I.A. by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who has been a key ally of the president on national security matters, according to the White House plan. Mr. Cotton has signaled that he would accept the job if offered, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations before decisions are announced.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump had given final approval to the plan developed by John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, but the president has been said to have soured on Mr. Tillerson and in general is ready to make a change at the State Department. Mr. Tillerson was at the White House on Thursday twice for meetings, but neither the president nor his team gave a public reaffirmation of his position in the administration.
When given the opportunity to confirm his confidence in Tillerson, and to assure folks that he was not going anywhere, this was Trump's reply.
"He's here. Rex is here."Reporter: "Do you have Rex Tillerson on the job?"— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 30, 2017
President Trump: "He's here. Rex is here." http://pic.twitter.com/H72H8X529y
Yeah, but the question was how long would he be there.
Some have suggested that putting Mike Pompeo in charge of the State Department would be a good move as he takes the position more seriously than Tillerson apparently did.
However Pompeo is also ideologically more pro-war, so if Tillerson was the obstacle keeping Trump from going off half cocked and attacking North Korea, it is unlikely that Mike Pompeo will continue to obstruct that decision.
One thing is for certain Trump's claim that he "only hires the best people" has now become a running joke.
You know, much like this presidency.
Only no one is laughing anymore.
Source http://ift.tt/2kbvjf5
