Trump didn't speak to me for THREE HOURS after firing me on Twitter says Rex Tillerson as he leaves the State Department without a word of praise for the president
- Rex Tillerson spoke Tuesday afternoon at the State Department hours after Trump fired him on Twitter
- He said it had been more than three hours between the announcement he was going and Trump speaking to him from Air Force One
- Made no tribute to Trump and offered him no thanks as he said he was returning to private life
- Dramatic morning tweet by the president announced that Rex Tillerson has been fired as Secretary of State and replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo
- Tillerson's last act was to blame Russia for the poisoning of its former spy Sergei Skripal at a British pizza restaurant – something White House had not done
- Tillerson, the former boss of Exxon Mobil, had just been on a trip to Africa and was last seen boarding his Air Force place on Monday
- Gina Haspel becomes first ever women to be Director of the CIA after clandestine career and involvement in 'black sites'
- Tillerson had disagreed with Trump on Iran and North Korea, the president said – but he had also been reported to have called the president a 'f***ing moron'
Rex Tillerson bid farewell to the State Department on Tuesday, revealing that President Donald Trump had not told him he was out of a job until three hours after publicly firing him in a tweet heard 'round the world.
And in a statement to reporters, Tillerson pointedly neglected to thank Trump for the opportunity to serve in the role once inhabited by Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster and Henry Kissinger. Instead he thanked 'the 300-plus million Americans' whom he ultimately served, and said he would soon thank his front-office and policy planning staff in person.
He said shortly after 2:00 p.m. that he had talked with Trump around lunchtime. The president's unexpected tweet came before 9:00 a.m.
'I received a call today from the President of the United States a little after noontime from Air Force One,' he said.
'I've also spoken to White House Chief of Staff Kelly to ensure we have clarity as to the days ahead.'
The shaken-sounding outgoing cabinet secretary explained that his official ending date will be March 31, and that he aims for an 'orderly and smooth transition' for his replacement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will assume Tillerson's duties at midnight. But Tillerson said his official 'commission' – his grant of authority from the president – wouldn't expire until the end of the month.
Trump effectively fired Tillerson on Tuesday without telling him personally, announcing on Twitter that he would dismiss him and elevate the nation's spymaster to the role of global diplomat-in-chief.
And he said he will appoint a woman to lead the CIA for the first time in history.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5495087/Trump-FIRES-Rex-Tillerson-secretary-state.html
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