Politico: CIA’s Pompeo Expects Trump to Make Him Secretary of State

NEWSMAX , Nov 15/17

CIA Director Mike Pompeo expects President Donald Trump to eventually offer him the Secretary of State role to replace Rex Tillerson, Politico reports.

And Pompeo, first rumored to make the switch last month, would accept.

Though tensions with Tillerson have cooled of late, Pompeo’s star is on the rise with Trump, who holds briefings with his CIA chief nearly every day, often inviting him to his next meeting, regardless of what it is, Politico reports.

Pompeo, Politico reports, has elevated to the same level as chief of staff John Kelly with the president.

“Like President Trump, Director Pompeo is clear-eyed and hard-nosed about the threats we face, and he speaks in the direct, blunt manner of a man who has no time to waste when confronting those threats,” Sen. Tom Cotton told Politico.

Cotton, it was reported last month, would replace Pompeo at the CIA if Trump made the move.

Rumors swirled that it was a race to see what would happen first — Tillerson quitting or getting fired by Trump in the wake of reports that Tillerson called the president a “(bleeping) moron,” which Tillerson himself never denied doing.

Further, Tillerson was reportedly at odds with Trump over the Iran nuclear deal, espousing keeping the U.S. in the pact rather than pulling out of it.

“Pompeo is a skeptic toward the traditional thinking in Washington about Iran and North Korea,” Ambassador Jim Jeffrey told Politico. “Tillerson pushed back on policy things and at times he reflected that there’s always a diplomatic solution. Pompeo will think outside the box. He’s also willing to not attack Trump openly, which most of this administration seems willing to do.”