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The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday. Mr. Pompeo would be replaced at the C.I.A. by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who has been a key ally of the president on national security matters.
Pompeo has mainly distinguished himself by being the most political CIA chief in recent history, but I suppose if you’re going to be openly political you might as well be in an explicitly political job like Secretary of State. As for Cotton, he strikes me as pretty inexperienced to be head of the CIA, but who knows?
Of the major players in the Trump administration when it began, this would mean that Trump has lost or fired: Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Mike Flynn, and Rex Tillerson. Of the original campaign crew, only Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions are left, and both seem to be on thin ice these days.
But don’t worry. Things are going great. Like a Swiss watch.
