With Rex Tillerson still disputing reports that he called Donald Trump a “moron” following a Pentagon meeting in July, speculation that the embattled secretary of state is preparing for an early exit still abounds. Strengthening those rumors are the underpinnings of a musical-chairs-style White House shake-up that would quickly cover Tillerson’s tracks: C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo has reportedly emerged as the front-runner to fill his seat (despite months of reports that United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley—one of the few standouts in the Trump administration—was Tillerson’s heir apparent), and new whisperings suggest Senator Tom Cotton could land at the helm of the U.S. spy agency.
On Monday, Axios’s Mike Allen reported that Cotton is under consideration as Pompeo’s successor at the C.I.A., should the former Kansas Congressman replace Tillerson at the State Department. On paper, Cotton fits the bill: the ambitious Arkansas lawmaker has dual degrees from Harvard, is a Bronze star who served in combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and boasts experience in the private sector and the House of Representatives. But more importantly, like Pompeo, Cotton has a good relationship with the president. Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt told Allen that Pompeo and Cotton both “like and listen to the president” and “accept his realism in foreign affairs.”
Cotton has also aligned himself with Trump on one critical issue: Iran. While the president has reportedly been at odds with key members of his cabinet—Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and Tillerson—on whether to recertify the U.S.’s deal regulating the country’s nuclear program, Cotton has been a vocal opponent of the agreement. Along with Senator Bob Corker and the White House, Cotton introduced a bill on Friday that would address some of the issues Trump has with the Barack Obama-era nuclear deal by amending the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
Over the past several months, Tillerson has increasingly positioned himself in opposition to Trump on a number of key foreign-policy issues. In an interview with Politico the day after “Moron”-gate and Tillerson’s impromptu press conference wherein he denied that he had ever contemplated resignation, Cotton appeared to take a swipe at the secretary of state for the growing daylight between him and his boss. “When you’re a Cabinet member, when you’re a senior adviser in the White House, and the president is right, you should help him achieve his objectives and run with his thinking,” Cotton said. ”When you think the president is wrong, you have a duty to try to present to him the best facts . . . to help him see it in a different light. Maybe you can, but if he doesn’t, and he says, ‘No, I want to do it my way,’ then your job is to move out and execute. And if you feel strongly enough, then you have to resign.”
