Rex Tillerson out as Secretary of State

President Trump has sent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson packing, blindsiding the nation’s top diplomat with his decision to replace him with CIA director Mike Pompeo.

The abrupt announcement was made in a Twitter message, posted ahead of Trump’s trip to California to visit border wall prototypes on Tuesday.

“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!” he tweeted.

Tillerson cut short a trip to Africa on Monday — arriving in Washington hours ahead of the announcement of his dismissal.“Rex and I have been talking about this for a long time. We got along actually quite well, but we disagreed on things,” Trump said during a brief appearance on the White House lawn.

Two White House officials told the Associated Press that Tillerson was told he was out on Friday.

Steve Goldstein, the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, released a statement saying Tillerson “did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason.”

Tillerson “had every intention of staying” in the job because he felt he was making critical progress in national security, Goldstein said.

Officials said Tuesday that Goldstein was promptly fired after his statement contradicting the White House was released. 

The State Department said the Secretary only learned of his termination when he read Trump’s tweet on Tuesday morning.

Sources told the AP that White House chief of staff John Kelly called Tillerson Friday and only told him to keep an eye out for a Trump tweet concerning him.

Tillerson, 65, took over the State Department last February.

President Trump is pushing out Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replacing him with CIA director Mike Pompeo. (JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)

The former ExxonMobil CEO maintained an at times contentious relationship with the President during his 13 month tenure as the head of the State Department.

His exit comes a day after publicly after splitting from the White House’s refusal to blame Russia for a nerve agent attack in England.

He issued a harshly worded condemnation of Moscow, going much further than the White House’s response.

“We have full confidence in the UK's investigation and its assessment that Russia was likely responsible for the nerve agent attack that took place in Salisbury last week," Tillerson said in a statement.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the attack "reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible," but stopped short of blaming Russia.

Tillerson has long been rumored to be unhappy with Trump's constant undermining of the State Department's stance on major issues.

Trump last year tweeted that Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate with Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs. Last week, Trump unilaterally decided to accept a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The outgoing Secretary reportedly referred to Trump as a “moron” last year following a meeting with the President and his national security team.

He was also set to testify before Congress on Thursday to talk about the State Department’s budget.

Lifetime State Department employees have said that the agency has been decimated under Tillerson and a host of positions remain unfilled.

Trump admitted that his decision was not one that was discussed with Tillerson.

“I really didn’t discuss it very much with him honestly,” Trump said. “I got along well with Rex but it was a different mindset, a different thinking.”

Pompeo, a former Congressman from Kansas who was elected during the 2010 Tea Party surge, is a loyal Trump supporter who is likely to be more hawkish than the man he’s replacing.

While Tillerson and Trump differed on many topic, Pompeo’s worldview is more in line with the President.

Pompeo is a critic of the Obama era nuclear deal with Iran, supports harsh interrogation techniques and backs Trump’s aggressive tone toward North Korea.

Some critics scoffed at the turnover in the Trump administration.

“The instability of this administration in just about every area weakens America,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.) tweeted. “If he’s confirmed, we hope that Mr. Pompeo will turn over a new leaf and will start toughening up our policies towards Russia and Putin.”

Trump announced that Gina Haspel, the deputy director at the CIA will be nominated to run the spy agency. She would be the first woman to hold the position.

“Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all” he added.

During the George W. Bush administration, Haspel operated an interrogation "black site" in Thailand. Her rise in the ranks at the spy agency has caused a stir due to her involvement in the torture of detainees and destroying videotapes of the interrogations.  

- ny news