Fuming Trump considering Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State after Rex Tillerson was reported to have called him a moron then refused to deny it
NBC News reported Wednesday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson almost quit in July and called the president a ‘moron’ at a Pentagon meeting
Tillerson made a statement from the State Department calling Trump ‘smart’ and refused to deal with ‘petty stuff’ though didn’t deny the comment
Trump allies have begun floating CIA Director Mike Pompeo as successor
Trump is reportedly furious Tillerson didn’t counter the ‘moron’ story better
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday it was ‘beneath’ Tillerson to deny the ‘petty, ridiculous’ accusation himself
Trump has tried to characterize the story as ‘fake news,’ tweeting Thursday morning that Tillerson had never threatened to resign
By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor
DailyMail.com
6 October 2017
Advisors to President Donald Trump are floating CIA Director Mike Pompeo as a possible successor to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as the president steams over Tillerson’s failure to forcefully knock down a report he called Trump a ‘moron.’
Trump offered ‘total confidence’ in Tillerson publicly following Tillerson’s extraordinary statement where he defended Trump but failed to deny having called him a ‘moron.’
That dramatic event followed an NBC report that Tillerson was on the verge of quitting last summer and had uttered the comment at a security meeting at the Pentagon.
But the president is furious that Tillerson didn’t counter the story better and forcefully deny the comment,Axios reported.
Instead, Tillerson said he wouldn’t be part of ‘petty nonsense’ by addressing the question.
The report describes Trump as seething at how the story dominated cable news on a day he made his trip to visit victims and responders of the Las Vegas shooting. But the president helped amp up the coverage by tweeting and commenting publicly about the story, as did Tillerson by delivering a formal statement at the State Department to address the report.
Pompeo, a former House member, has regular contact withe the president, briefing him daily on the array of global threats.
He served three terms in Congress including on the Intelligence Committee, and was an Army Cavalry officer. Until he took over the CIA, he did not have experience running a huge government institution, of which State is among the most notoriously unwieldy.
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