US President Donald Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, tweeting Tuesday evening (Kabul time) that he plans to replace him with CIA director Mike Pompeo.

"Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump asked Tillerson to step aside Friday, a senior White House official told ABC News on Tuesday. 

According to the report, Trump wanted to make sure he had a team in place before talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took place.

Trump believes he works well with Pompeo and the decision to replace Tillerson was not based on any single issue, the official said.

Tillerson and Trump have had tumultuous points in their relationship in the past. One of the most public disputes came in July amid reports that Tillerson called the president a "moron."

This meanwhile came after Tillerson cut a trip to Africa short on Monday, citing “the demands of work and the need to be in Washington for in-person meetings.”

Tillerson had spent much of his trip to Africa trying to make up for Trump’s derogatory comments in January when he referred to certain African nations as “s---hole” countries.