--- title: Why Donald Trump Fired Rex Tillerson description: "He’s really out of patience and will be doing things his way" canonical: https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-13T20:18:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:02:36.286Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why President Trump Fired Rex Tillerson og:description: "Now he's really out of patience and will be doing things his way." og:url: https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why President Trump Fired Rex Tillerson twitter:description: "Now he's really out of patience and will be doing things his way." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why President Trump Fired Rex Tillerson > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3c77b300-867e-432e-8f11-4bca72ba4fbf&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Rex Tillerson Delivers Remarks Hours After Trump Replaces Him As Secretary Of State [Watch (HLS stream): Rex Tillerson Delivers Remarks Hours After Trump Replaces Him As Secretary Of State](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MFngdXSr.m3u8) (2:49)  _Published 2018-03-13. Rex Tillerson Delivers Remarks Hours After Trump Replaces Him As Secretary Of State_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Mar 13, 2018 8:18 PM UTC  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Mar 13, 2018 8:18 PM UTC It wasn’t the disagreement over moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the wisdom of direct talks with North Korea or even the very clear split with the President over Russia’s aggression. In the end, [calling Donald Trump a “moron”](http://time.com/4975666/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/) last year — and the [broader personality clash](http://time.com/5197334/we-disagreed-on-things-read-president-trumps-remarks-after-firing-rex-tillerson/) it represented — was what cost Secretary of State Rex Tillerson his job on Tuesday. The move could mark the start of a broader purge. Republican officials say Trump has grown tired of listening to advisers who have tried to moderate his style. Now, these officials say, Trump will do things to his liking. “It’s no secret the President is not a patient man. Now, he’s really out of patience and will be doing things his way,” said one Republican on Capitol Hill who worries what that means for the GOP’s odds of holding its majorities in this fall’s midterm elections. “The President tried it their way and didn’t like what he was seeing. Now, he’s going to try it his way.” Trump fired Tillerson by [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/973540316656623616), expelling the former energy company CEO at an moment the U.S. is in dozens of hotspots around the globe that require constant tending and the President seems determined to shed his minders and go it his way. The pair spoke hours later, only after Trump had announced CIA Director Mike Pompeo would move from spy chief to chief diplomat. Even by Trumpian standards, Tillerson’s fall was dramatic. White House chief of staff [John Kelly](http://time.com/4894987/why-general-john-kelly-trump-last-hope/) hinted that the dismissal was in the offing during a Friday phone call with the Secretary of State, who was abroad on a diplomatic mission. Kelly strongly suggested Tillerson should cut his trip short and get back to the U.S., according to a White House official. Tillerson’s team at first suggested the move caught him by surprise and that he learned about it only when an aide showed him the Twitter post. His aides said the secretary did not know why he had been fired before Trump tweeted the news. The White House quickly [fired](http://time.com/5197820/white-house-rex-tillerson-goldstein/) a State Department spokesman for contradicting their story. Tillerson’s departure is just the latest from Trump’s orbit. On Monday, Trump’s personal aide, [John McEntee](http://time.com/5197484/trump-personal-assistant-john-mcentee-white-house/), was escorted from the White House; [CNN reported](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/politics/john-mcentee-white-house-security-clearance/index.html) McEntee was under investigation for financial affairs unrelated to Trump. (On Tuesday, Trump’s re-election campaign announced McEntee was joining the effort in a senior role.) Last week, top economic adviser [Gary Cohn](http://time.com/5188746/gary-cohn-donald-trump-resignation/), a millionaire Democrat, announced he was leaving the White House. And a week before that, [Hope Hicks](http://time.com/5180300/hope-hicks-resigning-donald-trump/) announced she was leaving her post as White House communications director and all-around Trump whisperer. Trump clashed with Tillerson repeatedly on foreign policy, often undercutting the man he lured away from ExxonMobil to be America’s envoy to the world. Tillerson, for his part, did the same, often contradicting Trump’s White House. Foreign diplomats were sometimes unsure if Tillerson was speaking on behalf of the United States or not. The latest example came in recent day when asked if Russia was responsible for the poisoning of a former spy. Tillerson laid blame on Russia. Trump said it could have been Russia or someone else, and White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to assign blame. Days before that, Trump bristled when Tillerson contradicted the President on talks with North Korea. And before that, the pair disagreed on tariffs on steel and aluminum, negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, a global climate change pact and staffing levels in Foggy Bottom. Trump proposed a budget that cut State Department programs by 25%. To say Trump and Tillerson had a rocky relationship would be too diplomatic. Trump saw Tillerson as too cautious. Tillerson saw Trump as woefully under-prepared for his diplomatic efforts and, in a famous moment of private candor, a [“moron.”](http://time.com/5197365/rex-tillerson-fired-timeline/) For that last affront, Trump ordered Tillerson to make a public statement denying it; Tillerson made a statement but didn’t dispute the NBC News scoop on the insult. Now, Tillerson is packing his wood-paneled office on the seventh floor of the State Department and heading to private life, 14 months after he joined the administration. At the close of business Tuesday, he planned to hand over his power to his deputy while the department waits for Pompeo to win confirmation in the Senate. Tillerson said he would maintain his commission until the end of March. In Pompeo, Trump will have a stronger pal. The former congressman from Kansas has cultivated a relationship with Trump during daily intelligence conversations in a way Tillerson never bothered to forge. Trump likes Pompeo, and the pair shares a harsh view of what is taking place outside America’s borders. In particular, the pair shares worry about the threat posed by Islamic extremism. Neither has shied away from going after Muslims with inflammatory rhetoric and targeted policies. What this means to Trump’s broader national security footing remains to be seen. Tillerson was seen as a moderating factor, often working in tandem with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who was making a surprise trip to Afghanistan when the Tillerson news broke. Trump often found himself facing unified opposition from [Tillerson and Mattis](http://time.com/5197834/trumps-defense-secretary-loses-an-ally-with-tillerson-firing/) and, more often than not, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who is also said be eyeing the exits. All of this leaves Trump relying on his gut and without the guardrails that kept him in line during his first year. That style served him well in his political campaign, and Trump is itching to return to it: Saturday night’s raucous campaign-style [rally near Pittsburgh](http://time.com/5194695/donald-trump-rick-saccone-pennsylvania-rally/) was a sign of things to come. But that could yet prove perilous in the White House Situation Room. ## Transcript What is most important is to ensure an orderly and smooth transition during a time that the country continues to face significant policy and national security challenges. As such, effective at the end of the day, I am delegating all responsibilities of the office of the Secretary to Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan. My commission as Secretary of State will terminate at midnight, March the 31st. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Between now and then, I will address a few administrative matters related to my departure, and work towards a smooth and orderly transition For Secretary of State designate Mike Pompeo. The rewarding part of having leadership and partnerships in place is that you can actually get some things done. And I wanna give recognition to the State Department and our partners for a few of their accomplishments under this administration First working with allies, we exceeded the expectations of almost everyone with the DPRK Maximum Pressure campaign. With the announcement on my very first trip as Secretary of State to the region that the era of strategic patience was over and we commenced the steps to dramatically Increase not just the scope, but the effectiveness of the sanctions. In other areas, while progress has been made much work remains. In Syria, we did achieve important cease fires and stabilizations which we know have saved thousands of lives. There's more to be done in Syria, particularly with respect to achieving the peace As well as stabilizing Iraq and seeing a healthy government installed. The more broadly in the entire global campaign to defeat Isis. Nothing is possible without allies and partners though. Much work remains to establish a clear view of the nature of our future relationship with China. How should we deal with one another over the next 50 years and ensure a period of prosperity for all of our peoples, free of conflict between two very powerful nations? And much work remains to respond to the troubling behavior and actions on the part of the Russian government. Russia must **** carefully as to how its actions are in the best interest of the Russian people and of the world more broadly. Continuing on their current trajectory is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part. A situation which is not in anyone's interest. So to my colleagues in the state department and the inner agency, much remains to be done to achieve our mission on behalf of the American people, with allies and with partners. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/"},"headline":"Why President Trump Fired Rex Tillerson","datePublished":"2018-03-13T20:18:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:02:36.286Z","description":"\"He's really out of patience\"","url":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","Rex Tillerson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49d5aea9dbe3bbed/69892aadab6d7732716b2118/rex-tillerson-fired-trump-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-NKOREA-MILITARY-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-CONFLICT","caption":"US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses during a briefing at the Department of State on August 22, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/","name":"Why President Trump Fired Rex Tillerson"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Rex Tillerson Delivers Remarks Hours After Trump Replaces Him As Secretary Of State","description":"Rex Tillerson Delivers Remarks Hours After Trump Replaces Him As Secretary Of State","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MFngdXSr/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-03-13T19:17:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MFngdXSr.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/","duration":"PT2M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5198200/donald-trump-fired-rex-tillerson-analysis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```