US President Donald Trump has torpedoed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to replace him with current CIA director Mike Pompeo. At the CIA, on the other hand, a woman will go for the first time, Gina Haspel, an ambiguous figure for her participation in a CIA torture program after the September 11.
Trump said it on Twitter: "Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA, will become our new secretary of state. It will do a fantastic job! Thanks to Rex Tillerson for his work! Gina Haspel will become the new director of the CIA, and the first woman chosen to do so. Congratulations to all!".
Tillerson's departure comes after months of back and forth over his farewell to the State Department, given several times as imminent. The former ExxonMobil strongman had been serving as secretary of state for 14 months, but there was no shortage of discontent with Trump. A few months ago, for example, NBC News reported that during a meeting at the Pentagon Tillerson had called Trump an "idiot". But on January 5, in the midst of the controversy unleashed in the US by the publication of Michael Wolff's book entitled 'Fire and fury: inside the Trump White House', the secretary of state declared in an interview with CNN: "I never put Trump's mental adequacy questioned.
Trump seems to have wanted to form a new team before embarking on the historic negotiations with North Korea, as a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is expected by the end of May. Ironically, however, last October the impetuous president publicly reproached Tillerson for evoking the existence of channels of communication that aimed to probe the intentions of North Korea: "Lose time to negotiate," Trump had written on Twitter; "Keep your Rex energy, we will do what we have to do".
To those who asked for the reasons for the 'dismissal', Trump cited some "disagreements" with Tillerson, in particular on the Iranian nuclear pact file: "We were actually quite agreeing, but we were in disagreement about some things", Trump said in the White House gardens before leaving for California.
If you look at the deal with Iran, I thought it was terrible, while he thought it was ok. I wanted to break it or do something, he thought a little differently. So we did not think exactly the same thing, "he added. And then: "I think Rex will now be much happier." Looking to the reconstruction, it seems that Trump did not warn the head of diplomacy in advance of his decision: the secretary of state "did not speak with the president this morning and is unaware of the reason, but is grateful for the opportunity to serve and still firmly believes that public service is a noble call and should not regret it, "wrote a Tillerson adviser on Twitter, American undersecretary Steve Goldstein.
He was later fired by Trump shortly after having published these comments: "It was the honor of a lifetime and I am grateful to the president and the secretary for this opportunity. I can not wait to rest, "he told Afp Goldstein.
As for Pompey, Trump praised "the formidable energy" and "great intelligence". A former military man who became the CIA chief, he is one of Trump's most beloved advisors, but his diplomatic talents remain a mystery in a delicate moment when the US is preparing to begin talks with North Korea. Considered a 'hawk', from his appointment in January 2017 has maintained aggressive tones, in particular about Iran and North Korea.
In his farewell speech, Tillerson claimed the next talks with Pyongyang as a success, saying that the pressures on North Korea have borne fruit "beyond expectations". He explained that at midnight local time the authority will surrender to his deputy, John Sullivan, but he will remain in the State Department until March 31 to complete the passage of administrative deliveries. The appointments of Pompey and Haspel, on the other hand, need confirmation from the Senate. A Pompey hearing is expected in April. As for Haspel there is already a rock, that is his torture past: it seems that he supervised a 'black site' of the CIA in Thailand in which the suspicion of al-Qaeda Abu Zubaydah suffered waterboarding after the attacks of the September 11 2001.