美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Replacing Secretary Of State Tillerson With CIA Director Mike Pompeo

Trump¹ Replacing Secretary Of State Tillerson With CIA Director Mike Pompeo

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Today began with a bang - or rather, a tweet. President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Trump later explained that it was because of a lack of chemistry and disagreements on policy. Trump plans to nominate current CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We were not really thinking the same. With Mike, Mike Pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. I think it's going to go very well. Rex is a very good man. I like Rex a lot. I really appreciate his commitment to this service.

SHAPIRO: In an administration that has already seen many departures, Tillerson had long been rumored² to be on his way out, yet today's announcement was still abrupt³. We'll hear more about Tillerson's likely successor, Mike Pompeo, in a few minutes. First, NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith joins us from the White House. Hi, Tam.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Let's start with how this all went down. The tweet came at 8:44 Eastern Time from @realDonaldTrump. What's led up to that?

KEITH: Well, there's something of a mixed description of how it all went down. The White House casts it one way. A senior State Department official casts it another way, though their accounts are not mutually exclusive. Let me try to explain. A White House official tells me that Chief of Staff John Kelly called Tillerson on Friday and told him that he was being asked to be - being asked to step down, that he would be replaced. There was a follow-up call on Saturday.

But State Department Under Secretary Steve Goldstein said in a statement this morning that Tillerson had no intention of leaving, hadn't spoken to the president and didn't know why he was being dismissed. So in other words, Goldstein was implying that Tillerson wasn't going to jump, he was going to have to be pushed and as a result was fired by tweet. We now know that Trump and Tillerson did ultimately talk, but that didn't happen until around noon today. Also Goldstein has also now been fired.

SHAPIRO: Yes. Now, we've reported on a lot of the conflicts over this past year-plus between Trump and Tillerson. Remind us of the history there.

KEITH: Yeah. So they were often at opposite ends on various issues, including the Paris climate accord - President Trump wanted to pull out - the Iran nuclear deal - President Trump wants to break it apart, Rex Tillerson wanted to stay in - on negotiating with North Korea - they never seemed to have their message straight and were in different places - on the timeline for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and even on how to talk to Boy Scouts⁵. After President Trump attended a Boy Scout⁶ jamboree and said some wild political things, Tillerson reportedly described him as an expletive moron⁷...

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

KEITH: ...And then never really denied it after reports came out that he had said that.

SHAPIRO: You've reported on the record levels of turnover⁸ in the Trump administration, and Tillerson is the highest level figure to depart. Put this into context for us. How does it compare with other presidencies⁹?

KEITH: You know, in recent history, most secretaries of state have served a nearly full term with the president. Tiller's tenure¹⁰ is the shortest. He's followed by Alexander Haig in the Reagan administration who lasted about a hundred days longer. Looking at data going back to President Carter, no president has had this many Cabinet vacancies¹¹ to fill so soon. Just as a reminder¹², Trump has had three health and human services secretary. Tom Price was forced to resign. John Kelly moved from Homeland Security secretary to chief of staff when Reince Priebus was fired. And now there's Tillerson. And today, President Trump indicated he may not be done.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: I'm really at a point where we're getting very close to having the Cabinet and other things that I want.

SHAPIRO: OK, in the last moment, Tam, a wild card - the president's body man also left. His name was John McEntee. Who is this, and why is his departure significant?

KEITH: Yeah, and that's sort of the equivalent of a personal assistant who is always by the president's side. The White House won't say why he is gone. The campaign says they've hired him. But there are a lot of reports that he had trouble obtaining a permanent security clearance¹³. And he is not the only one with security clearance problems in this White House. And Congress is investigating. They say that so far, the White House response to their questions about these issues has been inadequate¹⁴.

SHAPIRO: NPR's Tamara Keith, thank you.

KEITH: You're welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

3 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

6 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

7 moron   

n.极蠢之人，低能儿

参考例句：

• I used to think that Gordon was a moron.我曾以为戈登是个白痴。
• He's an absolute moron!他纯粹是个傻子！

8 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

9 presidencies   

n.总统的职位( presidency的名词复数 )；总统的任期

参考例句：

• The Dalai Lama previously visited the island during the presidencies of Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-hui. 曾经获得诺贝尔和平奖的达赖喇嘛，此前曾在李登辉和陈水扁主政期间访问台湾。 来自互联网

10 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

11 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

13 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

14 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。