NORTH KOREA/REX TILLERSON/STATE: “U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a plan to oust Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has had a strained relationship with his boss over North Korea and other issues, senior administration officials said on Thursday [11-30-17].
Tillerson would be replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo, known as a Trump loyalist, within weeks under a White House plan to carry out the most significant staff shakeup so far of the Trump administration.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton would be tapped to replace Pompeo at the Central Intelligence Agency, the officials told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump had given final approval to the latest staff shakeup, but one of the officials said the president asked for the plan to be put together.
Tillerson’s long-rumored departure would end a troubled tenure for the former Exxon Mobil Corp chief executive who has been increasingly at odds with Trump over policy challenges such as North Korea and under fire for his planned cuts at the State Department…
Trump asked John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, to develop the transition strategy and it has already been discussed with other officials, one administration source said.”
-John Walcott and Steve Holland, “Trump considers plan to replace Tillerson with CIA chief: U.S. officials,” Reuters, Nov. 30, 2017 07:02am