The long-simmering tensions between President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came to a head Tuesday, when the commander-in-chief announced the ouster of the country’s top diplomat with a tweet.
One political analyst told Cheddar the move was telling.
“It speaks a lot to the character of the two men,” commentator Rick Wilson said. “When Donald Trump was selling steaks, vodka, and a fake university, Rex Tillerson was building Exxon into the largest energy company in the world.
“The anxiety that Trump has about Tillerson being more competent than him has finally played itself out.”
Tillerson reportedly found out about his firing after Trump took to Twitter to announce that CIA Director Mike Pompeo would take over at the State Department.
The president later said he and the former ExxonMobil CEO “were not really thinking the same,” but that Pompeo had a “similar thought process.”
Still, the decision to remove Tillerson came hours after he voiced his support of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and the British government, who on Monday said Russia was likely behind the poisoning of an ex-Moscow spy.
The Trump administration did not officially second those findings.
But Wilson said Tillerson was right to consider Russia “an imminent national security threat.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t see it that way,” he told Cheddar. “There’s something wrong about Donald Trump’s relationship and viewpoint about Vladimir Putin that makes him behave this way, even when serious and consequential people around him are warning him.”
The White House denied Tillerson’s dismissal had anything to do with Russia, instead saying it wanted to have new leadership in place before Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, expected this spring.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/no-collusion-and-tillerson-is-out).
Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street as the market gives back some of the gains it piled up over the past three days. Major indexes are down more than 3% in early trading Friday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but remains in charge of the U.K.’s response to the outbreak.
Stocks are surging again on Wall Street as a massive coronavirus relief bill gets closer to passing Congress. Major indexes jumped more than 6%, bringing the S&P 500 up 17% since Monday.
Stocks are rising more than 3% early Thursday, putting the market on track for its first three-day rally in six weeks, even as the astonishing scale of the downturn slamming the economy because of the coronavirus becomes more apparent.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is 'very proud' of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package and confirmed the House will take up the package Friday.
On Tuesday the chairman of the FDIC put out a public service announcement urging people to keep their cash in the bank, as customers of U.S. banks and credit unions have been making big withdrawals in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and recession.
After a day of uncertainty, the Senate unanimously passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill late Wednesday. 4
The Senate passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic.
resident Donald Trump is imploring Congress to move on critical coronavirus aid without further delay. Senate leaders are trying to overcome late objections to a $2 trillion economic rescue package to ease the financial pain of the pandemic.
Stocks scored their first back-to-back gains since a brutal sell-off began five weeks ago, but much of an early rally faded late in the day as a last-minute dispute threatened to hold up a $2 trillion economic rescue package in Congress.
