Pompeo Begins 7-Nation Tour Amid Global Lockdowns and Trump Election Battle
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in a locked down Paris Saturday morning to start a 10-day jaunt across Europe and the Middle East that comes amid a backdrop of the Trump administration’s last-ditch legal efforts to remain in office.
The nation’s top diplomat is likely to offer private assurances to world leaders that if former vice president Joe Biden takes office, the Trump administration will assist with an orderly transition. Many of the leaders Pompeo is scheduled to meet have already congratulated Biden on his win. Pompeo’s seven-nation tour also will take him to several Middle Eastern hotspots—including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—where Iran’s global terrorism operation is likely to be a secondary focal point with world leaders.
Pompeo raised eyebrows on Friday when he stated during a press conference at the State Department that there will be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” While Pompeo, like other top administration figures, maintains that Trump won the 2020 presidential election, he clarified a day later in an interview with CBS News that an orderly transition will take place before Jan. 20 no matter who is declared the victor.
“Our adversaries should know that we’re ready, we’re continuing to work, we’ll work all the way through January. And then on January 20th, we’ll have a transition, whether it’s to a Trump administration—a second Trump administration as I spoke about today—or to an administration led by former vice president Biden,” Pompeo said. (Read more from “Pompeo Begins 7-Nation Tour Amid Global Lockdowns and Trump Election Battle” HERE)
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