washington president donald trump consider plan oust secretary state rex tillerson whose relationship strain top u.s. diplomat soft line north korea differences senior administration officials say thursday tillerson would replace within weeks cia director mike pompeo trump loyalist foreign policy hard-line white house plan carry significant staff shake-up far trump administration republican senator tom cotton one trump staunch defenders congress would tap replace pompeo central intelligence agency officials tell reuters speak condition anonymity immediately clear whether trump give final approval reshuffle one officials say president ask plan put together tillerson long-rumored departure would end trouble tenure former exxon mobil corp chief executive increasingly odds trump issue north korea fire plan cut state department tillerson report october privately call trump moron something secretary state seek dismiss follow tweet trump tillerson waste time seek negotiations north korea nuclear missile program widely see sign secretary state marginalize trump sour tillerson mostly moron report less confrontational approach north korea differences qatar crisis one senior u.s. official say slow approach fill diplomatic open state department also factor another official say trump ask john kelly white house chief staff develop transition strategy discuss officials one administration source say plan work weeks first report new york time reshuffle would happen around end year shortly afterward official say ask whether want tillerson remain job trump sidestep question tell reporters white house rex here state department spokeswoman heather nauert say kelly tell tillerson chief staff thursday report tillerson replace true nauert add tillerson serve pleasure president ask tillerson white house spokeswoman sarah sanders say secretary state remain post president lose confidence someone long serve say pompeo former congressman move forefront gain trump trust national security matter tillerson 65 spend much tenure try smooth rough edge trump unilateralist america first foreign policy limit success several occasion president publicly undercut diplomatic initiatives source familiar tillerson think say secretary state original plan take job leave february carry staff change would late string fire resignations trump administration include departures chief staff national security adviser fbi director pompeo 53 take tough foreign policy stand especially iran talk agency become aggressive focus deploy cia officer overseas offer effusive praise trump despite president criticism u.s. intelligence agencies conclude russia conduct influence campaign boost trump 2016 presidential election tillerson time put distance trump position private dinner foreign policy veterans last month senior white house official criticize tillerson fail support president agenda accord person familiar matter tillerson join defense secretary jim mattis press trump pull unite state agreement iran world power tehran nuclear capabilities tillerson take hawkish view trump russia try mediate dispute four arab nations launch boycott qatar september beijing tillerson say washington probe north korea see whether interest dialogue multiple direct channel communication pyongyang next day trump appear dismiss efforts tweet tell tillerson waste time tensions also run high tillerson veteran diplomats oppose propose staff budget cut trump consider plan replace tillerson cia chief u.s. officials