is more evident with nations such as Iran and North Korea openly flouting the international community by insisting on building nuclear weapons. Important issues such as climate change, which require many governments to work together in sometimes tough solutions, present tough diplomatic challenges. An insight into recent thinking inside the State Department was provided in November 2010 and the following months through the WikiLeaks United States diplomatic cables release. New directions under President Trump President Donald Trump's first Secretary of State was Rex Tillerson. a nonpolitical corporate executive who disagreed with Trump on many policy issues, and had the reputation of a very poor manager of the State Department. He was largely ignored by the White House and Trump later fired him. Trump named CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his replacement who took office in April 2018. Trumps foreign policy has been highly controversial. He rejected numerous agreements entered into by president Obama including the "Trans-Pacific Partnership", a 12-nation trade deal that went forward on its own. He pulled out of the international Paris climate accord, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to curtail Iranian development of nuclear weapons. He imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico, Europe, and other nations, and opened an escalating trade war with China. His relations with dictator Kim Jong Un of North Korea oscillated between extreme hostility and close personal friendship. Trump tried repeatedly to reduce entry of Muslims and Mexicans into the United States, as well as asylum-seekers from Latin America. Trump gave very strong support to Saudi Arabia and Israel, and strenuously opposed the governments of Iran and Venezuela. The business community, which generally approved his domestic tax cuts and deregulation policies, has strongly opposed his protectionist trade policy, especially the trade war with China.David M. Lampton, "Reconsidering US-China Relations: From Improbable Normalization to Precipitous Deterioration." Asia Policy 26.2 (2019): 43-60. Richard Haass argues that the Trump administration brought the reversal of many key American positions: Support for alliances, embrace of free trade, concern over climate change, championing of democracy and human rights, American leadership per se – these and other fundamentals of American foreign policy have been questioned and, more than once, rejected. Debate over the United States as an empire The United States was formed as the first successful revolt against a major empire in 1776, and historically has strongly imposed imperialism, as seen in the Monroe doctrine, in the war