Trump fires Rex Tillerson, will nominate Mike Pompeo to replace him

Read the Trumptweet yourself

If true, how tacky was this?:  "Tillerson found out he was fired when Trump tweeted about it." 
So out of place for a man of Trump's background and accomplishments, don't you think?

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Trump asked Tillerson to step aside on Friday. Tillerson thus cut his trip to Africa short to return to Washington.

. . . "Pompeo will have to be nominated and approved by the Senate before he can take Tillerson's spot in the government. Republicans can approve anyone they want in the Senate as long as they stick together, and Pompeo was confirmed for his current post in a 66-32 vote.

“ 'His experience in the military, Congress, and as leader of the CIA have prepared him well for his new role and I urge his swift confirmation,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday, as he wished Tillerson and his family well.

"Vice President Mike Pence backed Trump and urged the Senate to confirm Pompeo, "a man of highest integrity with unquestionable qualifications who will do an outstanding job.' " . . .

. . . "Tillerson's ouster ends a tumultuous year for him in Foggy Bottom, where an ambitious plan to redesign the State Department never reached fruition and where the top U.S. diplomat often found himself at odds with Trump's foreign policy instincts.

"In July, a visibly uncomfortable Tillerson was forced to hold a press conference to defend his boss after he was accused of calling Trump a "moron" during a Pentagon meeting earlier last spring. He never explicitly denied using the derogatory name to describe the president, but the State Department press spokeswoman did." . . .

Tillerson firing set to showcase just how little the media know  . . . "But here's what's really going on.  Tillerson was good for his task as he made it, but as a new stage in foreign policy dawns, particularly around Trump's high wire act in North Korea, some different talents are required.  Tillerson was a corporate man, a person with the right savvy to rise all the way to the top in the rock-hard bureaucracy of Exxon, and he tended to retain some of that style of governance at State.  That was fine.  He also had a bit of a lefty tinge, as many corporate types do, on the social justice front, and that wasn't as useful.  The fact that he said he took the job of secretary of state only because his wife told him to suggests someone whose heart wasn't all in it anyway.  Tillerson had a desire to retain respectability with all sides, which isn't useful to Trump now that he is going unconventional in his diplomacy with North Korea.  Something new is required, a new mindset, and from someone willing to take and go along with risks." . . .

After 14 months in the White House, Trump knows most of the non-leftist crop. He sees Pompeo as its cream. I think he’s right.  . . . "At the CIA, Trump will nominate Gina Haspel, currently the deputy director, to succeed Pompeo. If confirmed, she will become the agency’s first female director." . . .

I don’t know anybody who joined the CIA to run an interrogation program,” he continued, “But in the aftermath of 9/11, Gina Haspel and other colleagues stepped up to what is frankly a dirty job – because they were repeatedly assured that it was not only legal but necessary for the safety of the country. And they did it – Gina did it – because they felt it was their duty.

"That speaks well of her, in my opinion. Expect a bloody confirmation battle, though."

Gina Haspel nominated as CIA's first female director: 5 things to know about the career spymaster 

• She has been with the CIA for more than 30 years . . .
• She ran the CIA's first overseas detention site . . .
• She is well respected by former intelligence officials . . .
• She has held several top positions in Washington . . .
• She has won a handful of prestigious awards . . .

Wait for the Democrats confirming her to make a big deal over this:
"President Trump’s pick to head the CIA is a seasoned spymaster who has avoided the limelight during a 32-year career that has included stints running overseas “black sites” where dangerous terrorists were waterboarded."