President Donald Trump announced the dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ending a turbulent tenure marked by repeated disagreements between the president and his top diplomat over some of the most consequential foreign-policy questions facing the administration.
Trump announced that CIA Director Mike Pompeo would be nominated to replace Tillerson, putting a close political ally at the head of the State Department just as the administration prepared for potentially historic negotiations with North Korea.
The change represented one of the largest personnel shakeups of Trump's presidency to that point.
Trump and Tillerson Were Increasingly at Odds
Tillerson, the former chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, entered the Trump administration with no previous government experience but decades of international business dealings.
The relationship between the president and secretary of state became increasingly strained.
Their disagreements weren't merely stylistic.
Trump and Tillerson differed publicly over Iran, North Korea and other major foreign-policy questions.
Trump acknowledged those differences when explaining his decision.
The president specifically pointed to the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. Trump had repeatedly criticized the agreement and wanted either to substantially change it or withdraw the United States from it.
Tillerson had advocated a more cautious approach.
The disagreement would soon become even more consequential: less than two months after Tillerson's dismissal, Trump would announce that the United States was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement.
North Korea Created Another Divide
North Korea was another major source of tension.
Tillerson had repeatedly emphasized diplomacy as the Trump administration confronted North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs.
At times, Trump publicly undercut those diplomatic efforts.
In October 2017, after Tillerson revealed that the United States maintained channels of communication with Pyongyang, Trump publicly told his secretary of state that he was wasting his time attempting negotiations.
By March 2018, however, Trump himself had agreed to an unprecedented meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The timing made Tillerson's departure particularly significant.
The United States was preparing for one of the most unusual diplomatic initiatives undertaken by an American president in decades, and the country's chief diplomat was being replaced just as preparations were beginning.
Pompeo Moves From the CIA to State
Trump chose CIA Director Mike Pompeo to succeed Tillerson.
The president made clear that he believed Pompeo's views were more closely aligned with his own.
That alignment mattered.
Replacing Tillerson with Pompeo gave Trump a secretary of state who was expected to more closely reflect the president's positions as the administration confronted Iran, North Korea, Russia, China and continuing conflicts in the Middle East.
The move also opened the leadership position at the CIA. Trump selected Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel to succeed Pompeo, subject to Senate confirmation.
Haspel would eventually become the first woman to serve as CIA director.
An Awkward Departure
Even Tillerson's departure reflected the strained relationship that had developed between the White House and State Department.
Trump publicly announced the change on Twitter on the morning of March 13.
Later that day, Tillerson appeared before reporters at the State Department.
He said he had received a call from Trump shortly after noon and emphasized the importance of an orderly transition.
Tillerson announced that Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan would assume his responsibilities at the end of the day, while Tillerson's commission as secretary of state would formally terminate at midnight on March 31.
He did not use his farewell remarks to praise Trump.
Instead, Tillerson thanked State Department employees, Defense Secretary James Mattis, members of the military and America's diplomatic partners.
Another Major Change Inside the Trump Administration
Tillerson's dismissal added to the extraordinary personnel turnover surrounding the young Trump administration.
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had resigned in February 2017. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon were gone by that summer. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn announced his resignation only days before Tillerson's firing.
And the national-security reshuffling wasn't finished.
Later in March, Trump would replace National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster with John Bolton.
Taken together, the changes increasingly gave Trump a national-security team whose views were more closely aligned with his own.
Tillerson had entered the administration as one of its most prominent outsiders — a globally known corporate executive suddenly placed in charge of American diplomacy.
Fourteen months later, he was out.
His departure illustrated one of the defining characteristics of Trump's first administration: senior officials could rise quickly, clashes with the president could become very public, and even some of the most powerful members of the Cabinet could find themselves abruptly replaced.