Shulkin: Trump Fired Me Through a Tweet

Fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin Monday continued to disagree with the Trump administration's claims that he resigned from job, telling CNN he was fired through a tweet from President Donald Trump.

"I came to Washington with the commitment to make our system work better for veterans," Shulkin told CNN's "New Day" co-host Alisyn Camerota. "That's the commitment that I went to work with every day. I continue to feel strongly about that. There was no reason I would resign."

But when Camerota why not just say he was fired, Shulkin replied that is the "alternative to resignation."

"I received a phone call saying the president wanted to make a change," said Shulkin. "That is certainly his prerogative to do that, and that's what happened."

The call came from chief of staff John Kelly shortly before Trump tweeted that he planned to nominate the White House physician, Adm. Ronny Jackson, to head the VA, but Shulkin said Kelly did not tell him he was fired.

"So, the tweet fired you?" Camerota said.

"Yes," he replied.

However, he said that "it's not really that important to me" whether he was fired because he was against privatizing the VA.

"Every Cabinet member serves at the pleasure of the president," said Shulkin. "I think the president needs to have around him that he feels comfortable with. This is his decision. I don't know exactly all the reasons that went into that."

He said he does not doubt, however, that there were people advising the president that the VA needed to go in a different direction and that he needed to have different leadership in place.

"I feel strongly that we were making very significant progress. We had bipartisan support fixing the VA, transforming it," said Shulkin. "We had improved wait times. We got 11 bills through Congress. I don't know any other area that had so much progress. We were fixing the VA."

However, Shulkin said he hopes the VA will not move to privatization of service, but while he was in office, he was moving it to a combination of private and government care.

"It is essential that we work together and make this the very best that our veterans deserve, and I think the country recognizes in the past we just haven't done it," said Shulkin. "I hope we keep this in the same direction we have been moving in the last year."

He also said Jackson's selection gives him "comfort," because he knows him to be a "very honorable man who wants to do the right thing."

But Jackson will need a team to help, as the VA is the second largest agency in the U.S. government.

Further, it will be a challenge for Jackson, who has no management experience, said Shulkin, but said he will do all he can to help support his replacement, "because it is essential that the VA continues to make progress."

He said he also thinks the best answer for veterans is to continue to modernize the VA system, and to restructure it so it's not so complex and bureaucratic.

"I don't think there has always been investments in the right places for the VA, and I think it's continuity of leadership," said Shulkin. "This constant turning over of top leaders of secretaries and other leaders doesn't help when you're trying to make these types of systemic changes."

• Shulkin: 'I Did Not Resign'
• Veterans Group: Shulkin 'Became a Distraction' at VA