After media leaks by senior officials that President Donald Trump is planning to oust Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, the White House opted to keep the suspense on the subject for now by refraining from issuing a categorical statement on whether or not Tillerson will stay on in the top diplomatic post.
Trump himself, when asked by reporters if he wanted Tillerson to stay on in the job, cryptically commented: “He’s here. Rex is here.”
later, at the daily briefing, White House Press Secretary said “there are no personal announcements at this time”, but declined to confirm or deny the transition plan, first reported by The New York Times, citing senior administration officials.
“As the President just said, ‘Rex is here.” There are no personnel announcements at this time. Secretary Tillerson continues to lead the State Department and the entire cabinet is focused on completing this incredibly successful first year of President Trump’s administration,” Sanders said.
Answering questions, Sanders commented: “When the President loses confidence in someone, they will no longer serve in the capacity that they’re in.”
“The President was here today with the Secretary of State. They engaged in a foreign leader visit and are continuing to work together to close out what we’ve seen to be an incredible year,” Sanders said, referring to the visit of the Crown Prince of Bahrain.
A CNN report later in the day cited a source “with direct knowledge of the White House’s thinking” as saying that the reports leaked to the NYT and other outlets on the impending ouster of Tillerson were intended to “publicly shame” him, signifying Trump’s “deep displeasure” with his top diplomat.
“The hope from the White House is to push out the plan to replace Tillerson and then “wait for him to punch out”,” CNN quoted the source as saying.
Trump and Tillerson have not had a smooth working relationship, with the President publicly criticising his Secretary of State some time ago for “wasting his time” with his attempts at a diplomatic outreach to North Korea.
A controversy also erupted over reports that Tillerson had privately called Trump a “moron”. Tillerson, however, denied it promptly but in a somewhat roundabout way.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert sought to deny the reports in her own way, saying White House Chief of Staff John Kelly had phoned the department earlier in the day to say “the rumours are not true”.
“It is a fact that Secretary Tillerson serves at the pleasure of the President, as we all do, as does every political appointee and cabinet member,” Nauert said, adding: “Secretary Tillerson enjoys this job. He has a lot of work to do. We started out this morning together when he had a series of meetings. In addition to his regularly scheduled meetings with Washington officials and phone calls, he had a meeting with a foreign minister, Foreign Minister Gabriel of Germany.”
Nauert, who announced details of Tillerson’s European visit next week, said: “He is continuing with his meetings. He’s continuing with his calls…he’s continuing with a full schedule.”