Washington—United States President Donald Trump has nominated Gina Haspel, a controversial career intelligence officer, to head Central Intelligence Agency.
Haspel, the first woman tapped for the post, will succeed CIA chief Mike Pompeo, who was named to succeed US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who was fired Tuesday.
Haspel is reported to have overseen a CIA “black site” in Thailand where Al Qaida suspect Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded—widely deemed a form of torture—after the 9/11 attacks.
Both Pompeo and Haspel require Senate confirmation to assume their new posts. A hearing for Pompeo is expected in April.
A senior White House official said Trump wanted to reshuffle his team with a view to launching talks with North Korea, following last week’s spectacular announcement that he plans to meet Kim Jong Un by the end of May.
While Trump thanked Tillerson “for his service,” he was sparing in his praise of the 65-year-old former Exxon chief, long rumored to be on the way out.
Before leaving on a trip to California, Trump spoke openly of their differences—singling out the Iran nuclear deal—as he explained the rationale for the latest departure from his chaotic White House.
“We got along actually quite well but we disagreed on things,” Trump told reporters. “When you look at the Iran deal, I thought it was terrible, he thought it was okay.”
The remark suggests Tillerson’s sacking spells trouble for the agreement, under which Iran surrendered much of its nuclear infrastructure and opened the rest to international inspection in exchange for sanctions relief.
“I wish Rex a lot of good things,” the president said. “I think Rex will be much happier now.”
Adding to the day’s drama at the State Department, Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary for public affairs and public diplomacy, was also shown the door after issuing a statement supportive of Tillerson.
Goldstein wrote that the secretary “had every intention of remaining because of the tangible progress made on critical national security issues,” indicating he was caught off guard by Trump’s move. Within hours, Goldstein himself was fired.
The outgoing secretary of state, who returned overnight from a trip to Africa, did not address reports he only learned of his sacking when Trump tweeted the decision, saying only he had since spoken to the president.
In his farewell remarks Tuesday, he said Washington must do more to respond to Russia’s “troubling behavior”—one day after slamming Moscow for its alleged involvement in an attempted assassination using a nerve agent in Britain.
In announcing the reshuffle, Trump lavished praise on Pompeo, a former US army officer and congressman who led the CIA for nearly 14 months, calling him “the right person for the job at this critical juncture.”
“He will continue our program of restoring America’s standing in the world, strengthening our alliances, confronting our adversaries, and seeking the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Trump added.
For his part, Philippine Foreign Affairs chief Alan Cayetano welcomed Pompeo’s nomination.
“We congratulate Mike Pompeo on his designation as the new Secretary of State. We look forward to working with him and further strengthening the special relationship between the Philippines and the United States,” Cayetano said.
Cayetano acknowledged that Tillerson was responsible for maintaining good bilateral ties despite strained relations during the first year of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is a good friend of the Philippines who played a crucial role in strengthening our relations with the United States during his term as Secretary of
State. We thank Secretary Tillerson for his friendship and the support he has extended to the Philippines and the Filipino people particularly during the period when our relations with the United States were facing challenges,” Cayetano added.
