Defying precedent and possibly law, Pompeo dives into race

WASHINGTON — Casting aside his own advice to American diplomats and bulldozing a long tradition of secretary of state non-partisanship, Mike Pompeo plunged into the heart of the 2020 presidential race Tuesday with a speech supporting Donald Trump’s reelection. Pompeo delivered standard recitations of GOP claims about the successes of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy against Russia, China and Iran. He spoke of the defeat of the Islamic State’s physical caliphate, Trump’s pro-Israel agenda and the president’s determined vigilance to guard against the “predatory aggression” of the Chinese Communist Party. On North Korea, Pompeo said Trump had “lowered the temperature and, against all odds, got North Korean leadership to the table.” Left unsaid was the fact that Trump was partly to blame for raising the temperature with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the first place by threatening the country with “fire and fury.” Nevertheless, Pompeo noted that since the first of Trump’s three meetings with Kim, North Korea has not conducted any new nuclear or long-range missile tests. On Iran, Pompeo talked about Trump’s withdrawal from the “disastrous” 2015 nuclear deal, which has nonetheless left the U.S. isolated at the United Nations with even its strongest allies opposed.