Speaker 1: Mike Pompeo was sworn in as Secretary of State on April.
Speaker 1: He previously served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Speaker 1: from January of seen to April. Prior to joining the
Speaker 1: Trump administration, Mr Pompeo was serving in his fourth term
Speaker 1: as a congressman from Kansas fourth District. He served on
Speaker 1: the House Intelligence Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committees, as
Speaker 1: well as the House Select Benghazi Committee. Pompeo sat down
Speaker 1: with David Rubinstein, co founder of the Carlisle Group and
Speaker 1: host of the Bloomberg television show Peer to Peer Conversations,
Speaker 1: to discuss his foreign policy priorities, sanctions against Iran, protecting
Speaker 1: the integrity of America's elections, and his relationship with the president.
Speaker 1: So um, he became our seventieth of the United States
Speaker 1: Secretary of State in April of two thou eighteen. Um,
Speaker 1: you're happy with the job. Is as much as fun
Speaker 1: as you thought it was going to be every day.
Speaker 1: So um, what are the most significant foreign policy issues
Speaker 1: of concern to you? What do you think are the
Speaker 1: biggest challenges we have in our country right now in
Speaker 1: foreign policy area? So you know, I could ask this
Speaker 1: question about sort of rank ordering the challenges. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's not an original question. I mean, so look, it's
Speaker 1: a it's important question where it's it's about priorities and
Speaker 1: resources and how do you allocate time and how do
Speaker 1: you think about the problems that you know. For me,
Speaker 1: the first the first task when I came in now
Speaker 1: to sixty and seventeen months ago to the State Department
Speaker 1: after after having been the CIA director, was to make
Speaker 1: sure the State Department was ready in the moment of
Speaker 1: crisis in terms of priorities. Uh, you know, every morning,
Speaker 1: the first thing I do is read about China. So
Speaker 1: I take time and talk about all the broad array
Speaker 1: of issues that present both real opportunity for that estates
Speaker 1: and risk to America from China. Let's talk about China
Speaker 1: for a moment. The trade negotiations are going on. You're
Speaker 1: not the lead in the trade negotiations, think Bob Lightheiser
Speaker 1: is taking the lead in that. But can you make
Speaker 1: a progress in non trade issues until the trade issue
Speaker 1: is resolved. Yeah, And and we we've made some um,
Speaker 1: we've out other places where we've gotten backwards. The Chinese
Speaker 1: have frankly been very helpful on North Korea, so they
Speaker 1: have done more to enforce the UN Security Council resolutions
Speaker 1: on North Korea than ever at any time in history. Um,
Speaker 1: they're they're helpful with us today in Afghanistan and the
Speaker 1: project there too. It's something folks don't spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time thinking about. H. So far, so good with
Speaker 1: respect to respecting our sanctions enforcement on the Islamic Republic
Speaker 1: of Iran. But so there are places we can work
Speaker 1: with China. There are lots of diplomatic fronts where we
Speaker 1: have h We don't share the same values, but we
Speaker 1: have overlapping interests and we work on those problems. So
Speaker 1: you have been in North Korea and you've met with
Speaker 1: the leader of North Korea on a few occasions, and
Speaker 1: you've been there where the president has met with him.
Speaker 1: So what type of person is he? Does he have great?
Speaker 1: Interesting thoughts does he have? Did he speak English? Are
Speaker 1: do you communicate in English with him? And can you
Speaker 1: just can arize what your impression is of the leader
Speaker 1: of North Korea? Yeah, so I've spent more time with
Speaker 1: him than any American passed Dennis Rodman on the last trip. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: so uh so so he look, he's he's he's bright,
Speaker 1: he he has managed. He has managed to rise to
Speaker 1: the level leadership in a difficult environment where he was
Speaker 1: a very young man when his time came. Uh. From
Speaker 1: my very first interaction with him, he's been very candid
Speaker 1: with me about the things that are important to him,
Speaker 1: the priority set and how the negotiations might proceed. Uh.
Speaker 1: He's now repeated that he's prepared to de nuclearized. It's
Speaker 1: not time to execute. Uh, and I hope that we
Speaker 1: can achieve that. Do you expect a third summit to
Speaker 1: be announced anytime soon? The date and time of it,
Speaker 1: and there's there's there's nothing in the works, okay, because
Speaker 1: there's not nothing planned. And um, why did the last
Speaker 1: summit end before the lunch even occurred? Why did it
Speaker 1: kind of abruptly end? Uh? There was a big bit
Speaker 1: esque spread to put it in economic torran. Uh. We
Speaker 1: we'd had an umber. I can't go into all the
Speaker 1: just but we had a number of conversations about a
Speaker 1: broad range of issues in the run up to that.
Speaker 1: My team it worked very very hard, UH, and it
Speaker 1: just turned out that the idea that the leaders could
Speaker 1: bridge that gap in that moment turned out to not
Speaker 1: work that day. But do you think they're The U
Speaker 1: S position has been that we would not lift sanctions
Speaker 1: until there was a so called d nuclearization. But would
Speaker 1: you be willing to consider having the North Koreans keep
Speaker 1: whatever they have in nuclear weapons now and then lift
Speaker 1: sanctions that they didn't do more than they have now
Speaker 1: or is that something too hypothetical? Too hypothetical? Okay, I
Speaker 1: didn't want to give you the answer, but all right,
Speaker 1: So look, I'll say this, I've I've talked about this
Speaker 1: publicly a couple of times. We hope that there are
Speaker 1: creative solutions to unlocking this. It is a very difficult
Speaker 1: challenge for each of us. We have to remember too,
Speaker 1: these aren't U S sanctions. These are UN Security Council resolutions.
Speaker 1: These are global sanctions put on by every single country,
Speaker 1: and so we are we are mindful that we are
Speaker 1: the steward for enforcing those. Let's go to easier part
Speaker 1: of the world, the Middle East. Okay, So, um, this
Speaker 1: rates or for moves? Are we committed to keeping open
Speaker 1: the straight so far moves at any cost militarily, We're
Speaker 1: going to keep them open. Uh. Well, We're going to
Speaker 1: build out a maritime security plan. Um. Countries from all
Speaker 1: across the world who have a vested interest in keeping
Speaker 1: those wider ways open will participate. Uh. It will take
Speaker 1: more time than we wish it would take, but I'm
Speaker 1: very confident that the world understands its importance. That America
Speaker 1: is prepared to be a significant part of that. But
Speaker 1: we need countries from all across the world to assist
Speaker 1: us in protecting commercial transit. What will be successful what
Speaker 1: our position, I presume is that if the U. S
Speaker 1: ship were taken by the Iranians, we would presumably do
Speaker 1: something militarily. I guess I don't know, But what about
Speaker 1: if if a ship is taken that's a British ship
Speaker 1: or some other nationality, or we not committed to recovering
Speaker 1: that ship or doing something to defend those ships. We
Speaker 1: are working I was working with what I guess I'm
Speaker 1: not working with my third British Ford Minister, since that's
Speaker 1: been a secondary state, but working with the British to
Speaker 1: find the solution to both a UH, right that injustice
Speaker 1: and second prevent it from happening again. So to establish
Speaker 1: the turrets. That's the mission set. Recently, you gave a
Speaker 1: visa for the Foreign Minister of Iran to come to
Speaker 1: the United States, for you an event. Yes, yes, okay.
Speaker 1: So when he was in the United States, were there
Speaker 1: any indirect or direct talks with him and the State
Speaker 1: Department about anything that you can talk about? No talks,
Speaker 1: No talks and okay. And although he spoke, the American
Speaker 1: media decided to give him a megaphone to talk about
Speaker 1: things that are untrue going on in the Islambic Republic
Speaker 1: of Iran and gave him a chance to lie vociferously
Speaker 1: to the American people. I look forward to the chance
Speaker 1: to speak to the Iranian people in that same way,
Speaker 1: but truthfully, all right, tell them honestly about what's going
Speaker 1: on inside of their own country. I so far, they've
Speaker 1: not taken me up on that offer. How President Trump
Speaker 1: has imposed uh tough sanctions on Iran. Do you think
Speaker 1: they are going to have the effect of bringing it
Speaker 1: Ran to a negotiating table or not. You have to
Speaker 1: step back and think about what we're doing more broadly
Speaker 1: in the Middle East with respect to Iran. It's the
Speaker 1: warld's largest state sponsor of terror. It has the capacity
Speaker 1: to continue to work towards developing a nuclear weapons system,
Speaker 1: which would cause proliferation risks all throughout the Middle East,
Speaker 1: and so we are very concerned about that as well.
Speaker 1: Are are Are are chosen strategy was to take a
Speaker 1: hundred eighty degree term from what the previous administration has done.
Speaker 1: They created opportunity for enormous wealth for the kleptocrats in
Speaker 1: Iran and for them to underwrite Hezbollah militious in Iraq, UH,
Speaker 1: the Hooties and Yemen that are even as we speak,
Speaker 1: preparing to continue their attacks on Saudi Arabia. UH. We
Speaker 1: we've decided to go the other way. We're trying to
Speaker 1: reduce their resources to conduct terror campaigns all around the world,
Speaker 1: build out their missile systems and their nuclear program. And
Speaker 1: we've been incredibly effective that I remember, David, I'm sure
Speaker 1: no one in this room, but many here in Washington
Speaker 1: said that American sanctions alone won't work. Well, they've worked.
Speaker 1: We have taken over the crude oil that was being
Speaker 1: shipped by around all around the one. We have taken
Speaker 1: it off the market. We've done so what I checked
Speaker 1: when I came in, Brent CREWD is at four uh
Speaker 1: sent eight percent lower than when we withdrew from the
Speaker 1: j C p o A. So we have we have
Speaker 1: managed both to protect the economic growth that the world
Speaker 1: needs while doing our best to denied resources to the
Speaker 1: Islamic Republic run regual prospect of another Iranian agreement, one
Speaker 1: that's more favorable to your point of view and the
Speaker 1: presidence point of view, is that likely to happen this year,
Speaker 1: next year, or you just can't predict. I don't do time.
Speaker 1: I time timelines are a fool's Errand in my business,
Speaker 1: the Iranians are now enriching uranium at a greater level
Speaker 1: than they were before. Do you worry that somebody Israel
Speaker 1: might attack the Iranian facilities or you're not worried about that. Yes,
Speaker 1: they're enriching more than they were under the agreement. Their
Speaker 1: temporary their temporary reduction in enriched uranium has now ended.
Speaker 1: They're moving back in the wrong direction. We're urging them
Speaker 1: to think about. But for us, it's not about these
Speaker 1: levels set in the j c p o A, all right,
Speaker 1: And it's about the capacity to build at a nuclear
Speaker 1: weapons system in a time frame that matters to you
Speaker 1: and your kids and your grandkids. The previous agreement didn't
Speaker 1: remotely touch that. In the Middle East, do you see
Speaker 1: any prospect for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. There's
Speaker 1: been talk of a plan and UH, do you see
Speaker 1: any progress being made? So there's a reason it hasn't
Speaker 1: been solved for forty years or more. UM. In the end, UH,
Speaker 1: this will be the decision of the Prime Minister of
Speaker 1: Israel and the leadership UH in the West Bank and Gaza.
Speaker 1: I I haven't been deeply involved in Mr Kushner's efforts there,
Speaker 1: but is our position in the United States government position
Speaker 1: that we prefer a one state solution or a two
Speaker 1: state solution. You'll see our plan shortly, Okay, we give
Speaker 1: us a hint or okay we were We prefer with
Speaker 1: the Palestinians and the Israelis agreed to and what the
Speaker 1: nature of that relationship will look like. Now, negotiations are
Speaker 1: underway with the Taliban in the Middle East. The US
Speaker 1: has involved. Other than that, you see any progress in
Speaker 1: reducing our need to be in Afghanistan anything and in
Speaker 1: your future real progress. I try not to do timelines,
Speaker 1: but I'm optimistic. We're not just negotiating with the talentban
Speaker 1: that's the story. The truth of the matter is we're
Speaker 1: talking to all Afghans. So we've spoken with the President
Speaker 1: Ghani I spoke to him on Friday night or Friday morning, UH,
Speaker 1: speaking with the opposition, those folks that are not inside
Speaker 1: the government's speaking with Taliban officials. We have Massa Khalilasade
Speaker 1: has worked all across Afghanistan with I'M when I was
Speaker 1: there last, I met with njo's, I met with women's groups,
Speaker 1: a broad swath of Afghanistan. We want them to take
Speaker 1: their country back, and we want to reduce what is
Speaker 1: for us tens of billions of dollars a year and
Speaker 1: expenditures and enormous risk to your kids and your grandkids
Speaker 1: who are fighting for America. We we think there's a
Speaker 1: path to reduce violence, achieved reconciliation, and still make sure
Speaker 1: that the American counter terrorism effort in Afghanistan UH has
Speaker 1: a value in the potential to reduce risk here in
Speaker 1: the States. Before the next presidential election in the United States,
Speaker 1: would you expect we reduced, reduced our troops in Afghanistan.
Speaker 1: That's my directive from the President United States. He's been unambiguous,
Speaker 1: and the endless Wars draw down reduced. It won't just
Speaker 1: be us, UH, those of you who have served, no
Speaker 1: that resolute support has countries from all across Europe and
Speaker 1: around the world. So on Russia, Um, you've met with
Speaker 1: Mr Putin any times? I assume a few times, Yes, sir.
Speaker 1: And any impressions of him that you might convey, is
Speaker 1: he very smart, very tough? Does he understand English that
Speaker 1: you convey your thoughts to him in English? Or does
Speaker 1: he have an interpreter? I think I think he speaks
Speaker 1: English plenty. Well, Okay, Look, he's he's very clear about
Speaker 1: the things that are in Russia's interest, the things they're
Speaker 1: working on. Uh. You know, we had a strategic dialogue
Speaker 1: with them, Uh, that we hope will build into something
Speaker 1: that handles a broad set of proliferation issues, not just
Speaker 1: nuclear proliferation issues, but a broad array of proliferations. We
Speaker 1: hope China will will join that set of conversations. We
Speaker 1: think today's in today's world, these are humans need to
Speaker 1: have China be part of them. And I hope that
Speaker 1: President Putin will support us, and I think he will.
Speaker 1: You were the head of the CIA at the beginning
Speaker 1: of this administration. Do you have any doubt that the
Speaker 1: Russians interfered with our lance presidential election? Oh? None, none, Okay, So,
Speaker 1: um have been the one before that, and the one
Speaker 1: before that, and the one before that, and the one
Speaker 1: in ten. People forget we've had an election since st ip.
Speaker 1: People say, oh, we have to protect the good people
Speaker 1: who ran in and cared a lot about us protecting
Speaker 1: that one. We did so very effectively, and we'll do
Speaker 1: so again. And it's not it's the last thing. I
Speaker 1: just I know this town. You know exactly what will
Speaker 1: get reported, just so you know it. Anxious Russia. That's
Speaker 1: bad English, try and correct it. Um. There are there
Speaker 1: are more nations than just Russia who are attempting to
Speaker 1: undermine Western democracy. That has been true since the founders
Speaker 1: I created this great nation, and so we have to
Speaker 1: be ever vigilant. There is legislation that's passed the House
Speaker 1: and now in the Senate to um and give more
Speaker 1: resources to keep the Russians from being able to do
Speaker 1: this again. Is the administration supportive of the legislation and
Speaker 1: which seems to be blocked right now in the Senate. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know the details of the legislation. I'm convinced
Speaker 1: the State Department has all the resource resources it needs
Speaker 1: to perform It's part of that function. We we have
Speaker 1: what we need we have the authorities we need, we
Speaker 1: have the money we need. It's the burden is on
Speaker 1: me to execute. And have you communicated to Mr Putin
Speaker 1: that we do not like what he's done before and
Speaker 1: he shouldn't do it again on a number of occasions.
Speaker 1: And what's his response? Noted? Okay, that's a that's a
Speaker 1: diplomatic term for I hear you, brother, so um okay, Um.
Speaker 1: He doesn't admit anything, I assume, but okay, So with
Speaker 1: respect to England, there's a new prime minister. You have
Speaker 1: met bars Johnson before? I have. I met him when
Speaker 1: I was CI director and uh I believe he was
Speaker 1: Foreign Secretary at the time. When there's the current Trump administration,
Speaker 1: support a Brexit or would you prefer that there be
Speaker 1: a remain or do you not take a position on uh?
Speaker 1: A confidence in the British people? Okay, Now, the British
Speaker 1: ambassador had to resign because his cables were leaked by somebody. Um,
Speaker 1: do you tell your own ambassadors they should be a
Speaker 1: little bit more careful about what they say to you
Speaker 1: because somebody could leak what they're alrighty is that a
Speaker 1: worry not at all? And if I did, they'd ignore me, okay,
Speaker 1: I mean right, they have a duty, they have responsibility.
Speaker 1: Our task is for them to tell us what they're seeing.
Speaker 1: Than we expect that they'll report them accurately, truthfully, candidly,
Speaker 1: and then our mission is to make sure they don't
Speaker 1: end up in the Washington Post. Now abas suspect to Mexico, Um,
Speaker 1: we have been concerned about people coming over the border.
Speaker 1: Are you confident that the Mexican government is now doing
Speaker 1: what it can to keep more people from not coming
Speaker 1: over the border. They are, So they're doing enough, you think,
Speaker 1: or you know, it's not enough, and they still have
Speaker 1: a high side of two thousand every day. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's unacceptable, and so they need to do more. We
Speaker 1: need to do more. Congress needs to change the rule.
Speaker 1: We have to create a deterrence, right, and it has
Speaker 1: to be the case that those who want to come
Speaker 1: here legally can and those who want to come by
Speaker 1: some other mechanism choose not to because they understand that
Speaker 1: it not they're not going to find a way. I
Speaker 1: remember this as a member of Congress. People would call
Speaker 1: my office and say, uh, hey, we we we we
Speaker 1: live in pick a country around the world. They say
Speaker 1: they want to come here and get citizenship. And you know, anyway,
Speaker 1: I won't tell you the joke I told, but but
Speaker 1: the simplest way to do would be go to Mexico
Speaker 1: and come on. But what you want to encourage them
Speaker 1: to do is father paperwork, go through the lawful process,
Speaker 1: becomes citizens. Were the most welcoming nation in the world.
Speaker 1: We will always be. But it's not the case that
Speaker 1: we can be lawless or have our sovereignty broken through
Speaker 1: having this mass immigration in a non lawful mechanism. It's
Speaker 1: truly there's a national security risk. Speaking of south of
Speaker 1: the border Venezuela. Would the U. S. Ever send troops
Speaker 1: in if that was necessary to keep further violence from
Speaker 1: occurring there? So you started trying to get me at
Speaker 1: the beginning, now you're trying at the end. The President
Speaker 1: is pretty clearly we're gonna do all that it takes
Speaker 1: to make sure the Venezuelan people get democracy back. And
Speaker 1: that's the that's the mission said how President Trump has
Speaker 1: sometimes tweeted things that are not favorable about some people
Speaker 1: working for him. Uh, he's never tweeted anything unfavorable about you.
Speaker 1: It's early, it's early, So what is the what is
Speaker 1: the secret of your success in your relationship with President
Speaker 1: You didn't know him before he was elected, did you?
Speaker 1: I did not. I met him the day I uh,
Speaker 1: I interviewed the BCI director just and who recommended you
Speaker 1: to be CI in director? I don't know for sure,
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't, I don't know. I mean, the
Speaker 1: CIA doesn't have the ability to figure out who recommended you.
Speaker 1: Should you should thing that you've never believed that I
Speaker 1: only does for an s Okay, I got I've never
Speaker 1: been able to convince you. But somebody recommended you. You
Speaker 1: had an interview with I think the Vice president was
Speaker 1: likely the person who who I had known and served
Speaker 1: with as a member of Congress. And did you say
Speaker 1: I like the C I a job, but I'd like
Speaker 1: to be Secretary State or this came at of a
Speaker 1: surprise to you. It was a complete surprise me. I
Speaker 1: was and I was honored to serve as the director
Speaker 1: of the Central Intelligence Agency. Okay, so some people say
Speaker 1: that you should run for the Senate from Kansas. In fact,
Speaker 1: Mitch McConnell I think has twisted your arm a few
Speaker 1: times to do that. Um, can you say definitively that
Speaker 1: you will not run. The filing date is June of
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty. You probably know so any Uh, I didn't,
Speaker 1: but thank you for reminding. Okay, so would you consider that?
Speaker 1: Are you putting that off the table for a while
Speaker 1: or it's it's off the table. As as a practical matter,
Speaker 1: I'm going to serve as Secretary of State every day
Speaker 1: that I get the chance to do so. Look, uh,
Speaker 1: we all serve at the president of the pleasidents. You
Speaker 1: talked about that Director Coates, who I have enormous respect
Speaker 1: for be leaving the administration, saying he's served nobly. Uh.
Speaker 1: There there's a time for everyone, and I hope I
Speaker 1: get to do this for a while longer. UM. My
Speaker 1: experience is that sometimes when people get close to a president,
Speaker 1: they see the job up close, they say, well, well,
Speaker 1: I can do that job too. Has that occurred to
Speaker 1: you that maybe, um, you could do the job, And
Speaker 1: would you have any interest in running for president at
Speaker 1: some point in your life? I try to answer this consistently.
Speaker 1: I have never been able to predict what my next
Speaker 1: gig will be, and I suspect that's that's the case
Speaker 1: with respect to this. I I will say this, um,
Speaker 1: the service that I've had the chance to do. I'm
Speaker 1: almost twenty years now in federal service. Eighteen years of
Speaker 1: federal services. In my time in the army, uh and
Speaker 1: then in Congress and now in the executive branch. It
Speaker 1: has been a blessing. I hope I've left things a
Speaker 1: little bit better, and I I do feel an obligation.
Speaker 1: America has given me an awful lot. Enough I thought
Speaker 1: I could do a good turn. Um, there's there's nothing
Speaker 1: I wouldn't consider doing for America. Okay, Let's suppose president
Speaker 1: is re elected. Would you be willing to serve as
Speaker 1: Secretary of State for one to three or four years
Speaker 1: of a second term or have you thought about that yet?
Speaker 1: I haven't thought about it yet. Uh. You know, hard
Speaker 1: to know, hard to answer those questions that the real
Speaker 1: question is what the president still want. Mike Pompeo is
Speaker 1: a Secretary of State. Okay. So, Um, when you have
Speaker 1: decisions with the president, meetings with him? Does he best
Speaker 1: with oral communications, written communications? And what's the process by
Speaker 1: which decisions are made? Is it through the NFC or
Speaker 1: informal So there's a very robust NSC process. When I
Speaker 1: brief him myself, I always prefer to have documents the
Speaker 1: way I prefer to receive information. UM, so I almost
Speaker 1: always bring something, uh one page summary at the very
Speaker 1: least that says here, here's the outline of what it
Speaker 1: is that I think are the priorities and how we
Speaker 1: should think about how we should frame this particular problem.
Speaker 1: And then the President does like to engage in oral exchanges,
Speaker 1: and I've found them to be elucidating for myself. I
Speaker 1: often learned things as well. He's very focused on where
Speaker 1: the money is, how we use economic leverage to achieve
Speaker 1: our diplomatic ins Now, except when Henry Kissinger was both
Speaker 1: Secretary of State and NASH Security Advisor at the same time,
Speaker 1: generally there's been some tension between Secretaries of State and
Speaker 1: nashcurity advisors. How is your relationship with John Bolton? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, there's there's always tension among leaders of
Speaker 1: different organizations. We we come at these things with from
Speaker 1: a different viewpoint, uh, Bassator Bolton has is responsibility to
Speaker 1: try and make sure all the is are vetted and
Speaker 1: get to the President, Secretary, Treasury, Secretary of Energy, UH,
Speaker 1: the Intelligence cann each have their mission sets. There's we
Speaker 1: have robust libty debates. I agree with each of them
Speaker 1: often and disagree with most of them sometimes. So in
Speaker 1: your career, you were first in your class at west Point,
Speaker 1: So how do you become first in your class at
Speaker 1: west Point? That's pretty tough. I mean what happened to
Speaker 1: all the other people who were second, third, and fourth
Speaker 1: that they become anything? And so one of them is
Speaker 1: the Secretary Defense, right, So he's a classmate of mine
Speaker 1: as well. I give him hard time about our relative
Speaker 1: order of finish. Kay, Now you went to Harvard Law school?
Speaker 1: Why did you abandon the practice of law? Had a
Speaker 1: great opportunity. I was practicing law Williams and Connolly here
Speaker 1: had great partners I worked for I Unlike many, I
Speaker 1: actually enjoyed my time there. I was older that I
Speaker 1: had gotten to law school a little bit later, but
Speaker 1: had a chance to start a business in Kansas with UH,
Speaker 1: three of my best friends in the whole world. And
Speaker 1: so started a company that was a machine shop in
Speaker 1: which you dot Kansas and UH spent the next fifty
Speaker 1: You once told me you were negotiating with somebody on
Speaker 1: the opposite side of that deal, and that person wound
Speaker 1: up to be your wife. Is that true. It's true.
Speaker 1: She took my money twice. Okay, So what is the
Speaker 1: best part about being Secretary of State? I love Susan,
Speaker 1: by the way, so we're still married. It's Everything's good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you had to say that otherwise I did. I have
Speaker 1: friends in the room who are taking texting here right now.
Speaker 1: All right. So the best part of me being a
Speaker 1: Secretary State is what you get a chance to help
Speaker 1: ordinary Americans understand what we're doing and try and deliver
Speaker 1: them an environment where a few or a few of
Speaker 1: their kids have to be uh, an armed conflict. That's
Speaker 1: our mission, said every day, to get American outcomes through diplomacy.
Speaker 1: And what's the worst part about being Secretary of State?
Speaker 1: I haven't figured that out yet, right I'm I'm enjoying
Speaker 1: every minute of what I'm doing. I truly feel that
Speaker 1: I've been given this, uh this remarkable privilege to serve
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to do my best to deliver on
Speaker 1: that every day. Okay, So thank you very much for
Speaker 1: your service, and thank you very much for coming a character.
Speaker 1: Thank you all very much. That was U S Secretary
Speaker 1: of State Mike Pompeio speaking to Carlisle Group co founder
Speaker 1: David Rubinstein,