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<\/p>\nWashington, DC…And joining us now, the new and very busy Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Fox News Sunday. SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, Chris. It\u2019s great to be with you. QUESTION: Let\u2019s start with breaking news. First of all, that savage attack last night in Paris, a Chechen knifing killing one person, wounding four others. What can you tell us about a possible link to terror?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, we don\u2019t know much more. We know that the caliphate ISIS has claimed responsibility. They said he was one of their soldiers. We can\u2019t verify that yet. The French authorities, with all the intelligence help the United States can provide, we\u2019ll do our best to unpack this in the coming hours.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Okay, let\u2019s talk about some other breaking news. The North Koreans announced yesterday that they are going to blow up their nuclear site in 10 to 12 days. How big a development is this, and is that, do we believe, their only nuclear test site?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Chris, it\u2019s good news. Every single site that the North Koreans have that can inflict risk upon the American people that is destroyed, eliminated, dismantled is good news for the American people and for the world. And so this is one step along the way. I had a good set of meetings this past week aimed at heading in exactly this direction.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: I want to go back to the comment \u2013 and Kevin just played it \u2013 your comment on Friday that if Kim chooses the, quote, \u201cright path,\u201d the U.S. is prepared to work with North Korea to, quote, \u201cachieve prosperity.\u201d What does that mean in terms of direct U.S. investment in North Korea? And are we, as part of this, willing, in effect, to guarantee Kim\u2019s security, that regime change will be off the table?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Chris, here\u2019s what this will look like. This will be Americans coming in \u2013 private sector Americans, not the U.S. taxpayer \u2013 private sector Americans coming in to help build out the energy grid \u2013 they need enormous amounts of electricity in North Korea; to work with them to develop infrastructure, all the things that the North Korean people need, the capacity for American agriculture to support North Korea so they can eat meat and have healthy lives. Those are the kind of things that, if we get what it is the President has demanded \u2013 the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of North Korea \u2013 that the American people will offer in spades.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: And as part of that, are we, in effect, saying to Kim, \u201cIf you give us what we want, you can stay on in power?\u201d<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: We will have to provide security assurances to be sure. This has been a tradeoff that has been pending for 25 years. No president has ever put America in a position where the North Korean leadership thought that this was truly possible, that the Americans would actually do this, would lead to the place where America was no longer held at risk by the North Korean regime. That\u2019s the objectives. When I said earlier this week that I think Chairman Kim shares the objectives with the American people, I am convinced of that. Now the task is for President Trump and he to meet to validate the process by which this would go forward, to set out those markers so that we can negotiate this outcome.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Do you have any problem, given Kim\u2019s history and the history of his family as an oppressive regime, any problems with the idea of the U.S., even if we get our deal, in effect, giving a security guarantee to the Kim regime?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Look, we\u2019ll have to see how the negotiations proceed, but make no mistake about it: America\u2019s interest here is preventing the risk that North Korea will launch a nuclear weapon into LA or Denver or into the very place we\u2019re sitting here this morning, Chris. That\u2019s our objective, that\u2019s the end state the President has laid out, and that\u2019s the mission that he sent me on this past week to put us on the trajectory to go achieve that.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Let\u2019s talk about denuclearization, the objective. Two weeks ago, National Security Advisor John Bolton sat in this very seat, and he told me that the U.S. negotiating position going in is that Kim has to ship out, has to dismantle and take out of the country all of his nuclear weapons, all of his nuclear infrastructure, all of his long-range missiles before the U.S. will grant any concessions. On the other hand, this week, Kim met with Chinese President Xi and he called for, quote, \u201cphased and synchronous measures,\u201d in other words, action for action. Have you and Kim agreed what the sequencing is? Is it all of the actions by him first, or is it step by step? And is that something, as I say, that you\u2019ve agreed with, or is it something that Kim and the President will have to work out at the summit?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Chris, we\u2019ve had discussions on how this would proceed. There\u2019s still a great deal of detail to be worked on, and in the coming weeks we will continue to work on that so that we can be in a good spot on June 12th in Singapore for President Trump. But make no mistake about it: We\u2019ve done this before, right? We\u2019ve done trade for trade, moment for moment; you give me X, I give you Y; and it has failed repeatedly. I think Chairman Kim understands that. I think he appreciates the fact that this is going to have to be different and big and special, and something that has never been undertaken before. If we\u2019re going to get to this historic outcome, both sides have to be prepared to take truly historic measures to achieve it.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: And how confident are you? Because you\u2019re going to be putting the President of the United States in a room with Kim in Singapore with the whole world watching. How confident are you that not only he understands it, but that he\u2019s going to have to \u2013 that he\u2019s going to deliver on our expectations?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, to quote President Trump, we\u2019ll see, right? We are not to the place yet where we should be remotely close to declaring that we have achieved what it is we want. There\u2019s a great deal of work that remains. Our eyes are wide open with respect to the risks. But it is our fervent hope that Chairman Kim wants to make a strategic change, a strategic change in the direction for his country and his people; and if he\u2019s prepared to do that, President Trump is prepared to assure that this could be a successful transition.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: All right, I want to talk about that. You\u2019ve said that we understand, and John Bolton talked about that nobody in the administration is starry-eyed. The President has been raising expectations for the summit, saying he thinks that they\u2019re going to make a great deal \u2013 his phrase. Your predecessor at the CIA, John Brennan, says he thinks that\u2019s playing into Kim\u2019s hands. Take a look:<\/p>\n
PRESIDENT TRUMP: \u201cI think that we\u2019re going to have a success. I think this will be a very big success.\u201d<\/p>\n
MR BRENNAN: \u201cI think he has been masterful in how he has manipulated perceptions and how he has manipulated and, quite frankly, duped Mr. Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Is it a mistake for the President to predict a, quote, \u201cgreat success\u201d?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: I think Former Director Brennan\u2019s remarks are silly on their face. We\u2019re going to enter into a set of discussions with two nations doing their best to achieve outcomes for their own people that are consistent with their objectives and goals. I think we now understand that there is the potential that there are shared objectives, and our mission is to prepare the groundwork. And we\u2019re pretty far along the way in doing so, and we\u2019ll continue to work in the days ahead \u2013 30 left \u2013 to prepare for June 12th so the President can have a successful outcome, that the two of them can meet and see if there is sufficient overlap so that we can achieve the ultimate objective for the American people.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: After you brought the American hostages home and the whole world celebrated that, President Trump praised Kim for releasing them. And that praise \u2013 not the release of the hostages, but that praise \u2013 upset some critics. Take a look at this:<\/p>\n
PRESIDENT TRUMP: \u201cKim Jong-un did a great service to himself, to his country, by doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
SENATOR SCHUMER: \u201cWe can\u2019t be fooled into giving the North Korean regime credit for returning Americans that never should have been detained in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
QUESTION: According to your State Department\u2019s latest report, North Korea still holds at least 80,000 political prisoners in its labor camps and other facilities. Is human rights an issue in this summit, or is this just going to be about the nuclear issue?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, Chris, this administration is always concerned about human rights. It\u2019s the case not only are there political prisoners that remain in North Korea, there are Americans held around the world by other rogue regimes too. I can assure you this administration \u2013 I saw it in my role as director of the CIA and I\u2019ve seen it now in my first two and a half weeks as Secretary of State \u2013 is intently focused on achieving the return of each of those as well. We had a success this week. We\u2019re happy for those families and for America that those three Americans returned home, but we recognize there\u2019s much work to do. We still have Americans held and we\u2019re working diligently on behalf of each and every one of them.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: When people found out that you were going to be on the program today they all had the same question. I must say I did. What is Kim like? With the possible exception of Dennis Rodman, you have spent more time with him than any other Westerner, at least two and a half hours the way I figure it. What is he like? Give us any kind of personal insight. How aware is he of what President Trump has been saying? Was there any mention of Little Rocket Man?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, I\u2019ve got a lot fewer rebounds than Dennis Rodman, but I did get to spend a great deal of time with Chairman Kim. The conversations are professional. He knows \u2013 he knows his brief. He knows what the \u2013 what he is trying to achieve for the North Korean people. He is able to deal with complexity when the conversation requires it.<\/p>\n
He does follow the Western press. He\u2019ll probably watch this show at some point. He\u2019s paying attention to things that the world is saying. He too is preparing for June 12th. He and his team will be working with them to put our two leaders in a position where it\u2019s just possible we might pull off a historic undertaking.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Was there any mention of the exchange of insults back and forth?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: No, we didn\u2019t cover that, Chris.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: That\u2019s probably wise. (Laughter.) I want to turn to \u2013 there\u2019s a lot on your brief. Iran and Israel got into an armed conflict across the Syrian border this week after President Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Tehran. Do you think that there\u2019s any connection that Iran feels less constrained now that the U.S. no longer is part of this deal about Iran nukes?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: That\u2019s ludicrous. That\u2019s ludicrous to suggest that Iran feels less constrained when during the JCPOA they have now fired missiles into an airport where Americans travel each day in Riyadh, they\u2019ve now fired missiles into Israel; to suggest that somehow the withdrawal from the JCPOA is driving the Iranian conduct that\u2019s taken place during the JCPOA in Yemen, the rise of Hizballah \u2013 all of those things took place during the JCPOA. Indeed, I would argue that they felt they could act with impunity. They watched. They watched Europe put exactly zero sanctions on their missile program during the JCPOA. I think Rouhani and Zarif need to explain why it\u2019s the case that while this agreement was in place Iran continued its march across the Middle East.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: President Trump made it clear that he\u2019s not only going after Iran but he\u2019s also prepared to sanction European companies that continue to do business in Tehran. Here is the President: \u201cWe will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the leaders of France, of Germany, of Britain all say that they\u2019re going to stay in the deal and they\u2019re going to look for a way to protect European companies that continue to do business. The question is: How hard is the Trump administration prepared to go after European companies that ignore the U.S. pulling out?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Two things, Chris. First, the wealth that was created in Iran as a result of the JCPOA drove Iranian malign activity. It fueled Qasem Soleimani. It fueled the IRGC. It provided resources for their work in Syria and Iraq. President Trump\u2019s withdrawal is aimed at denying them that wealth, denying them the resources to continue their bad behavior, to take the money away from them.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal wasn\u2019t aimed at the Europeans. I worked hard over the short time I\u2019ve been the Secretary of State to try and fix the deal. We couldn\u2019t reach agreement with our E3 partners. I am hopeful in the days and weeks ahead we can come up with a deal that really works, that really protects the world from Iranian bad behavior, not just their nuclear program but their missiles and their malign behavior as well.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: But what about —<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: And I\u2019ll be working closely with the Europeans to try and achieve that, Chris.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: But what about if the European companies and the European countries say look, there\u2019s not going to be a renegotiation any more than there\u2019s going to be a renegotiation of the Paris Climate Accord? Is the U.S. prepared to go after companies in our allies like Britain, France, and Germany, if they try to continue to do business?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: The sanctions regime that is now in place is very clear about what the requirements are. My mission that I\u2019ve been given by President Trump is to work to strike a deal that achieves the outcomes that protect America. That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do, and I\u2019ll be hard at it with the Europeans in the next several days.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: A couple of final questions. Israel. The U.S. opens its embassy in Jerusalem tomorrow. The Palestinians are talking about a day of rage, violent mass protests, and the PLO won\u2019t even talk to the U.S. anymore as an interlocutor in terms of the Middle East. Is the peace process dead? And given the threat of violence, what are you as the Secretary of State saying to Americans in the Middle East in those parts of the world over the next few days?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: So the peace process is most decidedly not dead. We\u2019re hard at work on it. We hope we can achieve a successful outcome there as well. With respect to security, we are aware of the situation on the ground. The United States Government has taken a number of actions to ensure that not only our governmental interests but the American people in that region are secure as well, and we\u2019re comfortable we\u2019ve taken action that reduces that risk.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Finally \u2013 and it\u2019s pretty remarkable given all that\u2019s happened, all that\u2019s on your brief \u2013 you have been Secretary of State for barely two weeks now. What\u2019s your vision for the State Department?<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, first, Chris, I hope I haven\u2019t peaked in my first two weeks. (Laughter.) But it\u2019s pretty clear: We\u2019ve got to go put the diplomatic team on the playing field. It should be the United States State Department that is at the front of American foreign policy, delivering solutions to solve America\u2019s problems without resort to military force. And so I\u2019m going to build the team, we\u2019re going to get our swagger back, and the State Department will be out in front in every corner of the world leading America\u2019s diplomatic policy, achieving great outcomes on behalf of President Trump and America.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, thank you. Thanks for your time in a very busy schedule.<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you.<\/p>\n
QUESTION: Always good to talk with you, sir.<\/p>\n
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Chris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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