I would see it as the opposite: he is making a last statement that ignoring Russia's aggressions is wrong.
His successor Pompeo is unabashedly wearing blinders when it comes to Russia, contradicting his own agency.

Correction. Trump says he told Tillerson on Friday. Trump makes stuff up.

According to a release from State Department Under Secretary Steve Goldstein, Tillerson didn't find out about his removal from the president and it appears that he may have heard the news through Trump's tweet.

"The Secretary did not speak to the President and is unaware of the reason, but he is grateful for the opportunity to serve, and still believes strongly that public service is a noble calling,"

So Tillerson got his bad news from the White House the same way the rest of us do, in a 4am Presidential bathroom tweet.

The Happiest Man in America!

Meanwhile, the State Department official who contradicted the official White House story of the firing has also been fired.

This is starting to sound like a Monty Python sketch.

This administration will now be completed, at last minute and great expense, in an entirely different style:

New Secretary of State: Chuck Llama Jones

ETA: Thinking in a different direction, I wonder if someone could make some cash by offering a combo deal on a horse and a fiddle...

For Trump's sake I hope he has a working NDA with Tillerson - otherwise the man has probably more to say than just "*********** Moron".

Secretary of State can not be bound by an NDA. He would of course be bound by what is or is not classified. But you can not have an NDA with official staff, only campaign staff.

Tillerson said he received a call from Trump around noon today, from Air Force One, more than three hours after WaPo alert and Trump tweet announcing his firing.

I guess he's been on borrowed time since then. He couldn't be fired when the "copulating moron" thing was fresh news; now it can be associated with his anti-Russian comment, which is fine with Trump - it sends Vlad the right message.

From what I hear on Pompeo, war with Iran just came a lot closer. Trump's in a bit of a bind there, though, because Vlad's approval isn't a given.

Pompeo is probably acceptable to Putin , since he is sure to drive US allies even further away than Trump alone has managed to far.

Sweet.

Does anyone else find the similarity between Pompeo and Pompeii an ominous omen?

:D

The best subtitles!

Well, now we know what it takes to get fired at the White House. You can call Trump a copulating moron all you want, but trash talk the Russians and you are out within 24 hours.

All hail President Putin!

Trump is going to end up as Tiberius at Mar a Lago.

Who needs diplomacy when you have Trump and a Big Military?

I see lots of body bags coming home in the future...

Who would have thought we would fight the second war of Independence against the Russians?
Red Dawn for real...

And the purge might just be beginning. Many commentators are saying Trump wants everybody who is not a blind follower of him out of the White House and upper ranks of the government.
SO Trump can rule with his gut feelings, and not be bothered with experts who disagree with him.
I think the term "Catastrophic Results" will be applicable to the result.

You don't even want to be the one holding the phone for Tillerson. Loyalty in Donny's White House has a price...dismissal.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...s-donald-trump

I'm guessing he's scared of the 25th Amendment.

That's assuming he's even more than vaguely aware of any other than the 2nd.

And I doubt that his grasp of that goes beyond "This is something that the racist freaks who voted for me drool over. I gotta keep them happy."

I doubt Donny's thinking goes much beyond "What's in it for me!"

By all indications, this thread's about to blow up!
CNN has their say
You probably can't get decent odds on any of these guys.

Trump fires people to change the new-cycle. There won't be mass-firings, because that would be a waste of media ammunition.

When people thought they wanted america run like a business who knew it would end up being one of Trumps businesses.

What about the tillerson, Kelly, Mattis suicide pact? With Tillerson gone, will Kelly and Mattis both resign?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha !

Even if it really existed, I personally doubt that anyone in the Trump administration would adhere to it and in any case it seems a pretty poor way to run a government.

It was Mattis, Tillerson and Mnuchin. I'd be worried if Mattis resigned and Mnuchin is too much of a weasel.

So it's on like Donkey Kong!

Relevant:
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/973599618469679104

If there is a local card shop they must be making a fortune in all the "Sorry you are leaving" cards.

No, the action is at the pharmacies. When Trump's "best people" are routinely kicked to the curb, gauze is the immediate need.

Maybe this will end up being the prime mover for BC to leave?

First on CNN: Emails show Ben, Candy Carson selected $31,000 dining set

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/polit...set/index.html

I'm sure if 'Vankie hears this, she'll be leasing a store to Hallmark in their hotel lobby up the road.

Far more of a puzzle would be, "Who thought it would be any different?"

Well his offenses are tame by the standards of the Molester-in-Chief.

Obviously the results of previous application of her ideas on education.

And while he was trying to smooth over the Trumpet's "************ comment too.

Who still has clocks that require manual resetting?

Republican majorities. For a while...

To be fair that's probably normal practice under the Trumpet.

As of this past Sunday;

microwave #1

microwave #2

stove clock

coffee maker

three clocks in bedroom

two clocks in bathrooms

three clocks on three indoor/outdoor thermometers

two blood pressure monitors

central HVAC thermostat

my watch

both cars

There's probably others which I have overlooked and will notice sometime in an indeterminate future when I wonder why I'm suddenly running an hour behind somehow.

Our phone system would also have needed to be adjusted, but a while back, for some reason which is a complete mystery to me, it decided it was going to keep itself on GMT regardless of how I tried to convince it to stay in the same time zone as the rest of the house. I fear some sort of Anglophile virus, which isn't beyond the realm of the possible, since it's made by Panasonic, and those Japs are notorious Anglophiles.

The cable boxes, smartphones, tablets, computers, etc. have all managed to update themselves appropriately, but I'm keeping a close eye on them, just in case that Anglophile virus manages to jump over.

Well, no.

The evidence suggests that the Trump Administration is not particularly adept at having candidates ready to offer for approval. I think they still have more positions left unfilled than filled after a year in office.

The White House does all through it. Classic manual clocks that actually need winding. But that isn't the job of the President's body man. The permanent White House staff does that. In fact, its the job of a single individual to do this.

Israel is at war with Iran and Trump is a pal of Netanyahu.

If catsmate is on Europe, then the wall clocks probably set themselves, since there is a radio signal they receive telling then the proper time.

At least, that's how it was in the Netherlands. We don't have that service in the States.

Actually, you can, depending. They're called atomic clocks, and they pick up radio signals from timekeeping services in the U.S. It's just not the standard for all clocks.

Heck, you can even get wristwatches that do it.

Ok, I didn't realize this. In the Netherlands, such clocks seem the default rather than the exception. I was a bit confused when I realized that my newly purchased kitchen clock had no dial to set it.

That might not help. The 25th Admendment has a provision for a committee appointed by Congress to remove the President as well as his cabinent