After refusing to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s loss in last week’s election, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leaving Friday on a trip to Europe and the Middle East, where leaders have all congratulated former vice president Joe Biden for his victory.
The seven-nation trip is aimed at shoring up the outgoing Trump administration’s priorities, notably its anti-China and -Iran policies, and will include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been avoided by previous secretaries of state.
But the usual foreign policy issues are likely to be overshadowed by the extraordinary moment in global politics: Most of the world has accepted the results of America’s election, while the United States’ top diplomat have not.
Pompeo’s trip comes days after he raised eyebrows by dismissing a reporter’s question about the presidential transition by saying “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
He appeared to be speaking in jest and went on to say, in a more serious tone, that the world should be assured that the State Department will be functional and successful with the president who takes office on January 20.