As impeachment swirls, Trump nods toward Pompeo Senate run
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to open the door for the top U.S. diplomat, Mike Pompeo, to leave his post to run for an open Senate seat in his home state of Kansas. Talk about a Senate run has picked up as Pompeo has come under criticism for not defending U.S. diplomats who have testified in the Trump impeachment inquiry, but it is still unclear whether he will run.
Washington has been awash in speculation about Pompeo’s possible departure amid growing strain in his relationship with Trump. The president, in an interview on “Fox & Friends,” appeared to give his blessing to a Pompeo candidacy.
“He came to me and said 'Look, I'd rather stay where I am,' but he loves Kansas, he loves the people of Kansas,” Trump said. “If he thought there was a chance of losing that seat, I think he would do that, and he would win in a landslide because they love him in Kansas."
Many Republicans see Pompeo as their best hope to keep the Kansas race from becoming competitive. A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat there since 1932. Talk about a possible Pompeo run has only intensified as the hearings into Trump’s engagement with Ukraine have scrutinized the department he heads.
Pompeo has said he’ll remain secretary of state as long as Trump will have him. Asked if he will push Pompeo to run, Trump was noncommittal:
“Mike has done an incredible job. ... Mike graduated No. 1 at Harvard Law, No. 1 at West Point. He's an incredible guy, doing a great job in a very complicated world. Doing a great job as secretary of state. Mike would win easily in Kansas. Great state, and it's a Trump state. He'd win easily.”
Pompeo has given no signal that he intends to leave his current job anytime soon, and aides say he has diplomatic travel...