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Pompeo Trip to Offer Awkward Moments Amid Election Transition

  • Top U.S. diplomat’s stops include France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia
  • Pompeo may seek to sustain pressure on Iran, undercut Biden
Mike Pompeo at Paris Le Bourget Airport on Nov. 14. 

Mike Pompeo at Paris Le Bourget Airport on Nov. 14. 

Photographer: Patrick Semansky/AFP via Getty Images

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Secretary of State Michael Pompeo embarked on a seven-nation tour that will put his counterparts in an uncomfortable position, as he presses for cooperation on Trump administration foreign policy priorities that Joe Biden is likely to abandon when he takes office.

The 10-day trip to Europe and the Middle East is made even more awkward by Pompeo’s refusal, like President Donald Trump, to recognize Biden’s victory in the Nov. 3 election. Pompeo has even spoken, perhaps in jest, about preparing for a second Trump term when the president’s current term expires at noon on Jan. 20.