musicial cabinet chairs
Trump apparently wants to replace Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo
President Trump apparently wants CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be his next secretary of state, Politico reported Wednesday. Although Rex Tillerson — the current holder of the job — is not expected to leave his post imminently, rumors about a "Rexit" have circulated since this summer.
Tillerson has been frequently undercut by Trump during his tenure at the State Department, as the president has contradicted his public statements on diplomacy with North Korea and the diplomatic crisis in Qatar. Their relationship soured further after it was reported that Tillerson called the president "a f--king moron" after a meeting — rumors Tillerson deflected and did not exactly deny.
Trump is fond of Pompeo, and he reportedly uses his daily intelligence briefings to pick the CIA director's brain on a variety of topics and asks Pompeo to join him in other meetings. Last week, The Intercept reported that at the president's request, Pompeo met with a computer analyst who has claimed that the stolen Democratic National Committee emails believed to be hacked by Russians were actually leaked from within.
Although the CIA declined to comment on the story, Politico claims that Pompeo has told people close to him that he expects to receive — and would accept — an offer to become secretary of state. Tillerson has reportedly told friends that he wants to stay in the Cabinet through the end of the year.
Raj Shah, the White House's principal deputy press secretary, told Politico in a statement: "The president is very pleased with his entire national security team, which includes Secretary Tillerson and Director Pompeo."