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The gloves are off at the White House now that Mike Pompeo is slated to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state.
Without whatever restraining influence the outgoing Tillerson had on the president—and, frankly, it was minimal—Donald Trump is now about to veer headlong into the “dark side” of foreign policy, much as the George W. Bush administration did after September 11.
When Trump appointed Tillerson to head up the State Department, the Washington foreign policy elite didn’t quite know what to make of the former ExxonMobil CEO. Although Tillerson lacked formal diplomatic experience, he at least seemed to be a reasonable fellow, unlike some of the fire-and-brimstone choices that Trump was considering, like former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton.
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