White House plans to replace Tillerson

The Trump administration is mulling to replace incumbent United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

The switch is likely to happen 'within the next several weeks', reported the New York Times, citing senior administration officials as saying.

According to the reports, Sebastian Gorka, former advisor to President Donald Trump, told Breitbart in October, Pompeo is "very loyal to the president."

"Having somebody like Pompeo come into the State Department would be great news," Gorka added.

Pompeo's role will be assigned to Republican Senator Tom Cotton at the CIA who had been a key ally of President Donald Trump on national security matters. The senator has advised Trump on issues like the Iran nuclear deal and immigration.

Pompeo, 53, served as a congressman from Kansas before heading the CIA.

Cotton, a 40-year-old Army veteran, first won his Senate seat in 2014.

The White House chief of staff John F. Kelly developed the transition plan. However it is yet unclear if Trump has given final approval to the plan.

Tillerson has been at odds with Trump over a host of major issues.

Their approaches have disparities on North Korea and Iran's nuclear programme among other issues.

The Secretary of State was even reported to have described the president as a "moron".

Trump had publicly criticized Tillerson for "wasting his time" with a diplomatic outreach to North Korea.