State Department reset on display
Presidential visit spotlights ties with Pompeo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is trying to hit reset at the State Department on the eve of a critical decision on the Iran nuclear deal and a potential summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson went unmentioned during Wednesday’s brief swearing-in ceremony, but Pompeo’s contrasting status was on full display.
The former CIA director is personally close to the president and gained stature abroad after his secret visit to North Korea last month to meet with Kim.
“That’s more spirit than I’ve heard from the State Department in a long time,” Trump said as he took the podium to applause from the crowd on the ornate seventh floor.
It was a tacit acknowledgement that department morale had suffered under Tillerson, who undertook an unpopular restructuring of the department before he was fired in March. Pompeo has repeatedly promised to reinvigorate the department.
“I want the State Department to get its swagger back,” he said.
Trump’s visit put a spotlight on his close ties with Pompeo. Tillerson and Trump rarely saw eye to eye on policy, and Trump felt little chemistry with the former Exxon Mobil CEO.
Pompeo, by contrast, developed a strong relationship with Trump in large part through his regular attendance at the president’s daily intelligence briefing at the White House. Trump developed a personal liking for Pompeo during the 2016 campaign, when the then-gop congressman from Kansas was one of his earliest Washington endorsers.
Pompeo was the top graduate of his West Point class and an Army tank officer, and his credentials and blunt demeanor fit the mold for a top national security aide in Trump’s mind, White House officials said.
At the CIA, Pompeo oversaw a secret back channel to the North Korean government, and on April 1, weeks after his State Department nomination, Pompeo made a secret trip to Pyongyang to meet with Kim in advance of a potential meeting with Trump.
“Right now we have unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history on the Korean Peninsula,” Pompeo said Wednesday, as Trump and Kim move closer to finalizing details on a summit.
Pompeo was confirmed last Thursday, and was officially sworn-in hours later by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito before he embarked on his first foreign trip as secretary.