Donald Trump has fired US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with CIA director Mike Pompeo.

The US president said Gina Haspel will become the new CIA director, the first woman chosen for the job.

Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Pompeo, “will do a fantastic job!” and thanked Mr Tillerson for his service.

Mr Tillerson had returned from a shortened trip to Africa hours before Mr Trump’s announcement, which offered no explanation for the change.

A White House official said Mr Trump wanted to have a new team in place before upcoming talks with North Korea and various trade negotiations.

There had been rumours throughout most of Mr Tillerson’s tenure of friction between Mr Trump and his secretary of state, a former ExxonMobile chief executive.