Trump planning to axe secretary of state Tillerson - reports
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson will be sacked by President Donald Trump after falling out of favour with the former property mogul, according to reports in the country.
In a turbulent week at the White House which has seen Trump engage in a war of words with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, US media have reported that Tillerson is to be replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo.
The New York Times was the first publication to report the story, citing unnamed White House officials who said that the change could happen as early as this month.
The state department has said there has been no plans to oust Tillerson, the former CEO of oil corporation ExxonMobil.
Trump was non-committal when asked about Tillerson’s position on Thursday. After being asked whether he wanted the former oil executive to stay in the job, he said “he’s here, Rex is here.”
TRUMP TWEETS
Meanwhile, President Trump's visit to the UK was reported to have been cancelled amid mudslinging between the White House and the UK government.
Trump retweeted a series of videos from far-right group Britain First which purportedly show violent acts being carried out by Muslims.
Speaking on Thursday, Theresa May reiterated her belief that Trump’s actions were “wrong”, as MPs debated whether he should still be offered a state visit to the UK.
“I am very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do,” May said.
On Thursday Trump told May to focus on battling Islamic terrorism in the UK, instead of criticising his actions.
"Don't focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom," he tweeted.
But by Friday, US diplomats had dropped plans for a 'working visit' to Britain in January, the Telegraph reported, with no new date fixed in the diary.