The State Department on Tuesday issued a statement saying that just-fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had been planning to remain in his post — while adding that Tillerson still has no idea why he was fired.
In a statement sent to ABC News, the State Department said that Tillerson “had every intention of staying†at his job before he was fired, and he says that he “did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason†for his firing.â€
This contradicts a report from White House sources on Tuesday morning that Trump informed Tillerson last Friday that he planned to fire him and replace him with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Trump shocked the country on Tuesday morning when he abruptly announced that Tillerson was being fired over Twitter. The president had reportedly clashed regularly with his secretary of state during his tenure, and Tillerson reportedly enraged Trump when he referred to him as a “moron†during a national security meeting.
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