Recently terminated Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was alerted while in Africa late last week that he should be on the lookout for a tweet by President Trump over the next few days that would have to do with him, and only found out from a tweet Trump posted Tuesday that he had been fired.
White House chief of staff John Kelly called Tillerson on Friday to say there may be a presidential tweet in the near future that would be of interest to him. Kelly did not tell Tillerson, who was in Africa at the time, what the tweet would say or when it would be issued, according to an Associated Press report.
Tillerson returned from his Africa trip earlier than scheduled and had only been in the United States for four hours prior to Trump’s firing him Tuesday morning around 8:45 a.m.
The top diplomat had said earlier he cut his trip short because he felt exhausted and physically unwell.
“I felt like, look, I just need to get back,” Tillerson told reporters on he plane.
Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Steve Goldstein said his former boss was caught off-guard by his dismissal.
“The secretary did not speak to the president and is unaware of the reason, but he is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and still believes strongly that public service is a noble calling,” Goldstein said in a statement. “The secretary had every intention of staying because of the critical progress made in national security. He will miss his colleagues at the Department of State and the foreign ministers he has worked with throughout the world.”
Goldstein also said Trump did not call Tillerson himself with the news.
Trump announced via Twitter Tuesday morning he had canned Tillerson, and initial reports indicated the dismissal took place during Tillerson’s trip to Africa last Friday after approximately a year of service.
A senior White House official said Trump removed Tillerson because he wanted to have CIA Director Mike Pompeo in place as top diplomat ahead of the upcoming talks with North Korea.
