In Mike Pompeo, President Trump gets someone on his “wavelength,” according to the president. That could help Pompeo operate as secretary of State, since foreign governments are likely to view him as speaking directly for Trump on Iran, North Korea and other key issues.
Just last week, a particularly chaotic time at the White House, President Trump told reporters that he liked conflict. He said he enjoyed hearing disparate views before making decisions.
But only to a point it seems. In Mike Pompeo, whom Trump nominated Tuesday to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of State, the president gets someone more attuned to his erratic style and flamboyant personality, and someone who may more readily agree with him than Tillerson did.
That could help Pompeo operate as the nation’s top diplomat, since foreign governments are more likely to view him as speaking directly for Trump when it comes to North Korea, Iran, trade disputes and other foreign policy issues. Tillerson had credibility problems because he publicly disagreed with Trump on several major issues.
“I’ve worked with Mike Pompeo now for quite some time,” Trump said Tuesday, minutes after he announced Tillerson’s dismissal in a Twitter post. “Tremendous energy, tremendous intellect, we’re always on the same wavelength. The relationship has been very good and that’s what I need as secretary of State.”
On policy, Pompeo is also likely to hew closer to Trump’s views, although those can often be moving targets. More important, in addition to clearly enjoying Trump’s confidence, he has deeply honed political skills that Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO with no government experience, lacked — including an ease at dealing with Congress and the press.
The downside, however, is that Pompeo might be inclined to withhold information that challenges Trump’s preconceived world view.
As director of the CIA since the beginning of the Trump administration 14 months ago, Pompeo is the person who most frequently gives Trump his morning intelligence briefing. Trump is notoriously uninterested in details, so Pompeo has shortened the material and reportedly avoids critical issues such as Russian interference in U. S. interests, which might anger the boss.
“A lot of it has to do with personal chemistry, and he obviously has that,” Rep.
