Trump Replaces Rex Tillerson With Mike Pompeo at State Department

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be replaced by Mike Pompeo, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The tweet comes as rumors had circulated about Director Pompeo replacing the head of the State Department.

“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State,” President Trump tweeted. “He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!”

Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018

President Trump gave some brief remarks to reporters as he was leaving for California. He said Mr. Tillerson disagreed on the Iran deal and emphasized he and Mr. Pompeo have a “similar thought process.”

“We got along actually quite well but we disagreed on things,” Trump said of Tillerson. “When you look at the Iran deal, I think it’s terrible. I guess he felt it was okay…So we were not really thinking the same.”

On Director Pompeo, President Trump said the two are “always on the same wave length.”

“Tremendous energy. Tremendous intellect. We’re always on the same wave length,” he said. “The relationship has always been very good. That’s what I need as secretary of state.”

Mr. Pompeo, of Kansas, previously served in the U.S. Congress. He released a statement thanking President Trump for his confidence.

“I am deeply grateful to President Trump for permitting me to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and for this opportunity to serve as secretary of state,” Director Pompeo said. “His leadership has made America safer and I look forward to representing him and the American people to the rest of the world to further America’s prosperity.”

Ms. Haspel, who had served as Mr. Pompeo’s deputy director, will become the first women to serve as director of the CIA.

“I am grateful to President Trump for the opportunity, and humbled by his confidence in me, to be nominated to be the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency,” she said in a statement.