Tillerson 2.0? Pompeo’s ‘undiplomatic’ remarks might land him in hot water with Trump, Kremlin hints
Donald Trump might have his own assessment of Mike Pompeo’s “undiplomatic” remarks about Russia, Moscow has suggested, referring to the president’s recent Twitter rampage aimed at his last secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov went on the offensive after Pompeo accused Moscow of “squandering” public funds by sending two strategic bombers to Venezuela. Describing Pompeo’s comments as unbecoming of a diplomat, Peskov slyly pointed out that Trump has a habit of airing his own opinions of those who hold the reins at the State Department. “Perhaps such an assessment will follow in respect to Mr. Pompeo’s undiplomatic speech,” Peskov quipped.
Also on rt.com Kremlin blasts Pompeo’s ‘squandering’ remark, says US military budget ‘enough to support all Africa’Peskov was undoubtedly referring to Trump’s recent Twitter-lashing of former secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who the president lambasted as “dumb as a rock.” While Trump praised Pompeo’s brains in the same tweet, consistency may not be Trump’s strong suit: The president had previously hailed Tillerson as “one of the truly great business leaders of the world.”
Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2018
Pompeo tweeted out on Tuesday that the arrival of two Russian Tu-160 bombers was an example of “two corrupt governments squandering public funds, and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer.” The remark was quickly countered by the Kremlin.
“As far as the ‘squandering’ is concerned, we don’t agree with that,” Peskov stated, noting that half of the bulky US military budget “would be enough to support all of Africa.”
For now, Pompeo’s job appears to be safe. After all, there are no reports – at least not yet – that the current secretary of state called Trump a "moron” behind his back.
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