The idea that President Trump is “anti-military” and is suspicious of U.S. intelligence agencies is an untrue “media narrative,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News’ “Life, Liberty & Levin” in an interview airing Sunday night.
“There’s an effort underway before this election to try and paint the president of the United States as anti-military, and it is shocking to me, absolutely shocking to me,” host Mark Levin told Pompeo. “I know him, you know him. He adores the military. As you go around the world and you see our military personnel, are they proud of this country? Are they proud of this president? Are they proud to see you?”
“Absolutely. Every day, always …” Pompeo answered. “This week, I’ll head to Souda Bay in Greece to see some more of our armed forces. I am confident that they will welcome this administration.”
Pompeo, who spent the first 15 months of the Trump administration as CIA director, recalled traveling with the president to agency headquarters in Langley, Va., the day after Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
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“The [mainstream media] storyline was, ‘The president hates the intelligence community. He despises them. He doesn’t trust them.’ … On a Saturday morning, after the inauguration, hundreds and hundreds of intelligence professionals came out and cheered this president,” the secretary recalled.
“They cheered this president because they knew he was going to select a CIA director that was going to give them the authority to do what it is they needed to do to perform their mission. That’s what these young patriots … that’s what they want,” Pompeo added.
“They joined the intelligence community, they joined the military, to go out and be able to use their power in a way that delivered good outcomes for the American people.”
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Earlier, Levin asked if Pompeo thought the mainstream media understood the administration’s foreign policy strategy and accomplishments.
“I couldn’t tell you if they understand it,” Pompeo answered. “If they do, it’s willful deceit to the American people in [terms of] how they speak about this. I’ve watched the accomplishments we’ve achieved. I could tick off half a dozen here as we sit.
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The secretary of state cited Trump’s actions against Iran, particularly “the strike against Qassem Soleimani that changed the Middle East,” and in support of NATO — claiming the alliance “is stronger as a direct result of what President Trump and our team has done.”
“President Trump has grabbed the right end of the stick on these problem sets and made America more prosperous and benefited the world by doing that,” Pompeo went on. “We don’t hear that story very often in the traditional media outlets, whether that’s The Washington Post or The New York Times or wherever it may be, but I’m confident that the American people will come to see that the world is safer and their lives are more secure as a result of the way President Trump has done it.”