They have been at odds over a number of policy issues. It was an open secret in Washington.

Still it came as a bit of a surprise when U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to announce the ouster of his Secretary of State, with CIA Director Mike Pompeo picked to replace him.

Rex Tillerson spoke briefly following the announcement of his pending departure.

To discuss:

• Brian Becker is the director of the Answer Coalition.
• Dan Perkins is an author and commentator.
• Paolo von Schirach is the president of the Global Policy Institute
• Nathan King is CGTN’s White House correspondent.

For more:

The Friday before Rex Tillerson was fired, he received a call from the White House chief of staff telling him "you may get a tweet" https://t.co/J6kQpxYQKa

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 13, 2018

Update: A State Department official who stated that Trump did not speak to Tillerson before firing has also been fired. https://t.co/9QlJ1MDJlu

— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) March 13, 2018