U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was interviewed by Fox News on November 24 about the recently concluded foreign trip, the transition of power, and the Trump administration’s foreign policy, among other issues. He revealed in the interview that the State Department on Tuesday began studying President Trump’s decision to allow excessive work to be done in cooperation with President-elect Biden. In response to criticism that Trump’s “America First” approach has led to excessive U.S. isolation, Pompeo denied the allegations and stressed that a single form of multilateralism is not in the best national interest of the United States.
Earlier, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Director Emily Murphy sent a letter to Biden on March 23 informing him that he would begin the presidential transition process. During the interview, Fox News host Bret Baier asked, “Have you talked to Tony Blinken since Joe Biden said he wants Antony Blinken to be his Secretary of State?” Pompeo replied, “I haven’t yet. Today, we start looking at what the General Services Administration’s decision is, and we’ll do everything within the law. We’re going to get things done.” Bell followed up, “I want you to listen to the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, picked by President-elect Biden, and she talks about foreign policy and multilateralism. Please take a listen. ‘On this day, I think of the American people, my career diplomat colleagues and public servants around the world, and I want to say to you, America is back, multilateralism is back, diplomacy is back.’ These are the words of Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.”
Pompeo responded, “Where to begin, Bell? I remember what the last administration did when they described leadership as leading from behind. President Trump has never done that. We have built real coalitions – coalitions that crushed the Islamic State of Syria, coalitions that countered the Chinese Communists, coalitions that refused to appease Iran. The list of things we’ve done is great.” He continued, “What we’ve been saying all along, and this is where I think we’re taking different paths with the Biden team-and I can’t exactly tell from her words-is that it’s not in America’s best interest to practice multilateralism so that you and your friends can meet at a cool cocktail party. When we have common interests, we work with countries, we develop alliances to get real results that reflect the reality of the situation.”
Pompeo said, “That wasn’t the case when we came to the State Department. We built a huge team. I’m proud of the work that the State Department has done. We will continue to do so. It’s our responsibility. As long as we have these positions, we have a responsibility to continue to serve the security of the United States. We’ve done a great job, and we will continue to do so.” Separately, Bell mentioned that James Mattis, who served as secretary of defense under Trump, recently criticized that “in practice, ‘America First’ means isolating the United States. This undermines the U.S. ability to address problems before they reach U.S. territory, thereby exacerbating the dangers posed by emergent threats.”
In response, Pompeo noted, “With all due respect to Mattis, he is dead wrong on this point. At the heart of ‘America First’ is the recognition that when America is secure at home, when America does good for our own economy and our own prosperity, America will be a force for good throughout the region; and indeed, when America is not secure, we cannot provide security and enhance security around the world. ” He said, “I’ve always been outraged by the notion that the United States is alone. I want to tell you that our Japanese colleagues, our Korean colleagues, our Indian colleagues, our Australian colleagues know that ‘getting back to Asia’ (as proposed under Obama) was a joke, but the United States under President Trump has actually brought real benefits to them.”
Pompeo said, “And whether it’s the work that we’ve done, building out a huge coalition, going after the socialist Maduro, going after Cuba, these are real alliances, real things that are working. It’s not the United States alone. It’s something we do with our friends and allies, based on common interests and realities. We recognize the core truths about the status quo, not pretend that things are what we want them to be.”
Separately on his concerns about the Biden administration’s foreign policy, Pompeo said, “I don’t want to speculate. I know some of these people. They’ve adopted a very different view. They’ve lived in a bit of a fantasy world. They’ve led from the background. They were appeasing. I wish they would have chosen a different course. It’s 2020, which is different than 2015. I hope they’ll see what we’ve done and how that brings greater peace in the Middle East, how it reduces the risk from North Korea, where we’ve lowered the tensions that were very high when we came into office, whether it’s a recognition at the center level of the real threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses to jobs across the United States.”
Pompeo said, “If they would have put those things at the center point and at the center quality, I think America’s trajectory would have continued to be a safer, more prosperous, more secure trajectory. The freedoms that we’ve fought for the American people these last four years, I hope will continue.”
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