Secretary of State Rex Tillerson now joins the looong list of officials who have were fired or left the Trump administration. According to the New York Times, after cutting short a trip to Africa, Tillerson learned he had been fired at the same time and just like several others, on Twitter or in the media. President Donald Trump announced he would replace Tillerson with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director who forged a close relationship with Trump.
The abrupt and unexpected firing extends the shake-up in the Trump administration this month. Only 15 days into March, seven members of the administration have either resigned or were fired.
After publicly contradicting the White House account of how Tillerson was fired, Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary of public affairs at the State Department was fired by the White House. In San Fransisco, James Schwab, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resigned over what he described as “false” and “misleading” statements made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and ICE acting director Thomas D. Homan.
On Monday, John McEntee, Trump’s personal aide, was escorted out of the White House after issues with his background clearance were presented. Gary Cohn, Director of the National Economic Council and the chief economic advisor to the president, resigned amid ongoing debate inside the White House on Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
At the beginning of the month Hope Hicks, White House Communications Director and Trump’s longest serving aide, announced her resignation. Similarly, it was revealed that U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Roberta S. Jacobson plans to resign in May.
