President Donald Trump is denying reports that he is ready to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
"The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS!" a tweet from Trump's account read Friday. "He’s not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!"
The tweet included a link to an Instagram post of Tillerson's swearing-in ceremony.
The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS! He’s not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!https://t.co/FrqiPLFJ1E
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
On Thursday, multiple outlets cited White House sources saying Trump was readying a contingency plan for Tillerson's departure, which could occur in the coming weeks. The plan including moving Pompeo to Secretary of State and naming Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton as the next director of the CIA.
Tensions between Trump and his top diplomat have remained high since Tillerson reportedly called the President a "moron" earlier this year. Tillerson has not directly denied such reports.
