National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday he’s not aware of a plan to remove Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
The New York Times reported last week the White House is considering firing Tillerson in favor of Pompeo and then installing Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton as the new CIA director. McMaster said that’s news to him.
“I’m not aware of any plan at all. What I’m aware of is the secretary traveling today to advance and protect our interests, as is our secretary of defense,” McMaster said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I know we met on some very important topics in the past week and have brought some great options to the president to protect the American people and advance our interests.”
The White House has played down the report but not met it with the same kind of strenuous denials it reserves for news about the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Tillerson’s role in the administration has been the subject of speculation for months. Trump is reportedly not happy with the former Exxon Mobil CEO and the two are rumored to butt heads on numerous occasions over the last few months, including one report that Tillerson called Trump a “moron” during a meeting at the Pentagon.
Tillerson called a surprise press conference in October to deny that report and say he was staying on as secretary of state.
