5 reasons why President Trump fired Secretary of State Tillerson
Disagreements over moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, talks with North Korea and many other foreign policies are said to be the reasons why US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lost his job.
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| US President Donald Trump (right) and fired US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: Reuters |
US President Donald Trump on March 13 unexpectedly announced that CIA Director Mike Pompeo will replace Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State. “Mike Pompeo, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), will be our new Secretary of State. He will do a great job! Thank you Rex Tillerson for his service. Gina Haspel will be the new Director of the CIA and the first woman to be selected for the position. Congratulations to all!”, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter.
The firing of Mr. Tillerson could be considered Mr. Trump's most important personnel adjustment move since taking office early last year.
Mr. Trump's move was considered quite surprising because Mr. Tillerson himself only learned that he was fired after reading President Trump's tweet and had absolutely no idea why he was fired.
Observers believe that the overlapping conflicts over foreign policy with President Trump are the reason why Mr. Tillerson lost his job.
MagazineNewsweekhas listed 5 reasons why Mr. Tillerson must quickly leave the White House.
The first,Mr. Tillerson has been inconsistent in bluntly accusing Russia of being most likely behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK. Meanwhile, the White House has been cautious instead of blaming Russia.
Experts say this inconsistency could be the "last straw" that led President Trump to fire the secretary of state, who comes from a business background and has had business relations with Russia.
Monday,Last October, Mr. Trump challenged Secretary of State Tillerson to an IQ test after news reports said Mr. Tillerson called Mr. Trump "stupid" for proposing to increase the nuclear arsenal.
Tuesday,Trump and Tillerson have shown disagreements on policy toward North Korea. Last summer, when the US and North Korean leaders were engaged in a war of words, Secretary of State Tillerson said the US wanted to "resolve the problem through dialogue" while the White House said all options were open and did not rule out military action.
Last week, commenting on the planned meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Mr. Tillerson said that Washington would focus on “dialogue” rather than “negotiation.” However, President Trump has made it clear that he wants a deal on denuclearization with North Korea.
Wednesday,Mr. Trump disagreed with Secretary of State Tillerson’s policy on whether the United States should mediate tensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They also disagreed on whether the United States should withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran.
Thursday,Mr. Tillerson must have upset President Trump because he considered the White House boss's actions as "unprofessional" when Mr. Trump criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for "lacking a stance" on the investigation of former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
