This morning we dont know about . Sec. Pompeo well, i am here. Became secretary of state in april, 2018. Are you happy with the job . Is it what you thought it was going to be . Sec. Pompeo every day. Moderator what are the most significant Foreign Policy issues for you . What do you think are the Biggest Challenges we have in Foreign Policy . Sec. Pompeo i get asked this question about ranking the order of challenges. Moderator you mean thats not an original question . Of. Pompeo its a question where you allocate resources and time, how you think about problems. Ago, havingonths been cia director, my First Priority was making sure the team was ready and a time of crisis. What happens when something really bad happens thats unexpected . Is your team capable . Do you have the people who can respond . In terms of priorities, every morning the first thing i do is read about china. I take time to talk about the broad array of issues that provide opportunities for the United States and challenges to the United States. Moderator can you make any progress in nontraded issues until the trade issue is resolved . Sec. Pompeo yes, and we have made some. There are other places where we have gone backward. The chinese have been very helpful on north korea. They have done more to enforce the u. S. Security council on north korea than at any time in history. On afghanistan. So far so good with respect to respecting sanctions on iran, although we sanctioned a Chinese Company last week and the week before for violating those sanctions. Interestserlapping and we can work on those. Moderator one area the chinese were involved in was hong kong and the protests there. I never answer hypotheticals about what we will or will not do. Appropriate. We have that in the United States. I drove past it today. Rubinstein you have been to north korea and benton north korea on two occasions when the president has met with two occasions when the president has met with. Do you communicate in english summarizend can you your impression of the leader of north korea . Morepompeo i have spent time with him than any american. I surpassed Dennis Rodman on the last trip. [laughter] he is bright. He has managed to rise to the level of leadership in a difficult environment. He was a very young man when his time came. From my very first interaction with him, he has been very candid with me about the things that are important to him. Repeated that he is prepared to denuclearize and it is time to execute. I am hoping we can unlock the rubiks cube. Hass a challenge he presented with as the leader of north korea as well. We hope he can see his way clear to get us the Brighter FuturePresident Trump has talked about. Mr. Rubenstein do you have any meetings scheduled for the future . Sec. Pompeo there is nothing in the works. Nothing has been talked about. The laststein why did lunch abruptly and . Sec. Pompeo to put it in economic terms, we had a number of conversations about a broad range of issues in the runup to that. My team had worked very hard, and it turned out the idea that the leaders could bridge that gap in that moment turned out to not work that day. Would you ben theing to consider having north koreans keep whatever Nuclear Weapons they have now more than theyon have now or is that too much of a hypothetical . Sec. Pompeo to hypothetical. I have talked about this publicly a couple of times. Difficultvery challenge for each of us. We have to remember that these are not u. S. Sanctions. They are Security Council resolutions. Sanctions from every country. Lets go to anrubenstein easier part of the world, the middle east. Are we committed to keeping the straits of your mood open . Open aits of farmers straits of vermouth open . Sec. Pompeo we are going to keep them open. I am confident the world understands that its important and that we need countries from all across the world to assist us. But yourstein position, i presume is that if the u. S. Ship were taken, we would do something militarily. Are we not committed to recovering a ship or doing something to defend ships . Sec. Pompeo we have seen it. We have seen them take a british ship. Its not a hypothetical. I am working with my third British Foreign minister since i became secretary of state. We are working with the british and tolutions to prevent this. When he was in the United States, where there any indirect or direct talks with him or the state department and anything you could talk about . Sec. Pompeo no talks. He spoke. Media gave him a microphone and the chance to live vociferously to the American People. I look forward to having a chance to speak to them honestly about whats going on in their own country. So far, they have not taken me up on that offer. Mr. Rubenstein do you think iran is on the negotiating table or not . The pompeo remember objective. The National Security strategy that was laid out two and a half years ago with respect to the middle east. We tend to focus on the tactical. We need to step back and think about what we are doing more broadly in the middle east. Iran is the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terror. It has the capacity to work toward developing a Nuclear Weapon system. Although we are very concerned , our chosens well strategy is to take a 180 turn previous the administration has done. It created enormous opportunity s and those who even as we speak are preparing to continue their attacks on saudi arabia. We decided to go the other way. And we have been incredibly effective. I am sure no one in this room but many here in washington said american sanctions alone wont work. Well, they worked. We have taken over 95 of the crude oil being shipped all around the world when i checked when i came in, crude is than when welower withdrew. We have managed to protect Economic Growth while doing our best to deny resources to iran. Prospect ofin the another regime that is more favorable to your point of view and the president s point of view, is that likely this year or can you predict . Sec. Pompeo timelines are a fools errand in my business. But the iranians are now enriching uranium at a greater level than they were before. Are you worried about that . Yes, they are enriching more than they were under the agreement. But they are moving in the wrong direction. We are urging them to think about that. Levels set in the the jcpoa. Its about the capacity to build in thear weapons system previous agreement did not remotely touch that. Mr. Rubenstein do you see any possibility for peace between israel and the palestinians . Sec. Pompeo there is a reason it has not been solved for 40 years or more. Will be the decision of the Prime Minister of israel and the leadership. I have been deeply involved in mr. Kushners efforts there and my team will be traveling with him in the coming days to flesh out our path forward. We can present our vision, our plan, what we hope they will engage on. The decision about whether to make this progress is up to those two countries. Mr. Rubenstein is our position that we see a one state solution or a two state solution . Sec. Pompeo you will see our plan shortly. Mr. Rubenstein will you give us a hand . Sec. Pompeo no. Mr. Rubenstein any progress between qatar, saudi arabia and the uae in resolving their disputes . Are we in the middle of that . Sec. Pompeo there has been some. Mr. Rubenstein so, we are not in the middle of trying to resolve that. Sec. Pompeo we have made clear we hope that they will consider american matters. Mr. Rubenstein what about the goals . Progress. O there is it is uneven. Make theease have to hutis have to make a decision. Negotiations are underway with the taliban in the middle east. Do you see any progress with that . Sec. Pompeo real progress. Im trying not to do timelines, but im optimistic. We truth of the matter is are talking with all afghans. I spoke to the president friday night or friday morning. We are speaking with opposition, folks not inside the government. We are speaking with taliban officials. I met with ngos. I met with womens groups. A broad swath of afghanistan. Take theirm to country back. A path tohere is reduce violence and achieve sure theation and make american counterterrorism effort potentialstan has the to reduce risk in the United States. Mr. Rubenstein before the next election, do you expect to reduce our troops in afghanistan . Havepompeo those of you who have served no there is a Resolute Support from countries across the world. Forope the overall need combat forces in the region is reduced. That would be job enhancing. Mr. Rubenstein what about russia . You have met with mr. Putin many times. Is he very smart, very tough . Does he understand english . Do you convey your thoughts to him in english or does he have an interpreter . Sec. Pompeo i think he speaks english very well. He is clear about the things that are in russias interest. A broad dialogue on array of issues. We hope china will join not set of conversations. We think in todays world, these agreements need to have china be part of them. President k i hope putin will be part of that and i think he will. Mr. Rubenstein anything related to ukraine or is that off the table now in terms of discussions . Are engagingwe with the new government in ukraine. They just finished parliamentary elections last week. I hope that will engender a more creative set of ideas about how to solve these problems. Crimea you think is never going to return to ukraine . Sec. Pompeo deposition is unacceptable. Crimea must come back. That position is unacceptable. Crimea must come back. Mr. Rubenstein a protester has been arrested. Do you have any communication about what is occurring . Sec. Pompeo i have read the reports. I dont have anything to add this morning. I think everyone understands the u. S. Position. This goes to what you asked about hong kong earlier, russia, all of those places. We support freedom of expression, freedom to live up to ones conscience. And we hope that for every citizen of the world. Sec. Pompeo you were the head ofthe cia at the beginning this administration. Do you have any doubt that the russians interfered in our election . Sec. Pompeo none. And the one before that, the one before that, and the one before that. And the one in 2018. We have to protect 2020. The people who ran in 2018 about us protecting that. We did so very effectively. I know this town and i know exactly what will get reported. Just so you know, it aint just russia. That english. I will try to correct it. There are more nations than just great who are trying to nation. We have to be vigilant. More nations than just russia who are trying to nationne this great since its founding. We have to be vigilant. Mr. Rubenstein there is legislation in the house that has not passed the senate. Sec. Pompeo we have the authority. We have the money. The burden is on me to execute it. Mr. Rubenstein have you communicated to mr. Putin that you do not like what he has done on he shouldnt do it again . Sec. Pompeo on a number of occasions. Mr. Rubenstein and what is his response . Sec. Pompeo noted. Thats a diplomatic term for i hear you, brother. Mr. Rubenstein he doesnt want to admit anything, i presume. With respect to england, there is a new Prime Minister. You have met Boris Johnson before. Sec. Pompeo i have. I believe he was foreign secretary at the time. Mr. Rubenstein does the trump support brexit or would you prefer remain or do you not take a position on that . Sec. Pompeo i have confidence in the british people. Mr. Rubenstein you tell your ambassadors they should be more careful about what they say to you because somebody should leak what they are writing. Is that a worry . Sec. Pompeo not at all. They would ignore me. They have a duty. Our task is for them to tell us what they are seeing. The power of the state department is that we have these officers on the ground. Many places can do policy in think tanks, but we want them to give us the granularity they can only get with those interactions and we expect them to report accurately, truthfully, candidly. Our mission is to make sure they dont end up in the washington post. Mr. Rubenstein are you confident the Mexican Government is doing what it can to keep more people from not coming over the border . Sec. Pompeo they are. Mr. Rubenstein they are doing enough . Sec. Pompeo no, its not enough. We still see the high side of 2000 every day. Its unacceptable. We need to do more to converse eight the change two create the change. It has to be the case that those who want to come here illegally can and those who want to come by some other mechanism choose not to because they will not find a way. When i was a member of congress, people would call my office and say we live in pick a country and we want to come here and get citizenship. I wont tell you the joke, but the best way to do it is to go to mexico and come on in. But what you want them to do is file the paperwork and go through the lawful process. We are the most welcoming nation in the world. We always will be. But we cannot have our sovereignty broken through this mass immigration. There is a National Security risk. Speaking, when i speak with my counterpart in el salvador, he understands its their challenge, not ours. We have to get this right. Are you worried Congress Might not pass that legislation . Sec. Pompeo i hope they will. The president is doing everything he can to create growth here in america. I hope they will pass it. I dont do vote counting anymore. I did that for six years, so i am out. Mr. Rubenstein venezuela. With the u. S. Ever send troops and if necessary to keep further violence from occurring there . Sec. Pompeo you tried to get me at the beginning. Now you are trying to get me at the end. Than we were today several months ago, but in the end, we will do our part and the nation will be rebuilt with a great coalition. Or 58 other countries are joining us. They understand maduro is not the duly elected president. Mr. Rubenstein President Trump has sometimes tweeted things that are unfavorable about people working for him. He has not tweeted anything unfavorable about you. Sec. Pompeo its early. Mr. Rubenstein what is the secret of your success in your relationship with the president . You didnt know him before you worked with him, did you . Sec. Pompeo i did not. I did not meet him until i became the cia director. Mr. Rubenstein who recommended you for that job . Sec. Pompeo im not sure. Mr. Rubenstein you mean the cia doesnt have the ability to figure out who recommended you . [laughter] somebody recommended you. Sec. Pompeo i think the Vice President was likely the person who i had known and served with as a member of congress. Mr. Rubenstein did you say i like the cia but i would like to be secretary of state or did this come as a complete surprise to you . Sec. Pompeo it was a surprise and i was honored to serve as director of the Central Intelligence agency. Mr. Rubenstein some people have said you should run for the senate. Can you say definitively that you will not run . You consider that or are you putting that off the table . Sec. Pompeo its off the table as a practical matter. Im going to serve as secretary of state every day i get a chance to do so. We all served at the pleasure of the president. Director coats will be leaving the administration soon. He served nobly. I hope i get to do this for a while longer. Mr. Rubenstein my experiences sometimes when people get close to the president and see the job up close they think, i would like to do that job, too . Too. At job, is that something you would be interested in . Sec. Pompeo i have never been able to predict what my next gig will be an thats the case with respect to this. I will say this. I am almost 20 years now and federal service, 18 years, my time in the army, congress, and now the executive branch. Obligation. America has given me an awful lot. If i thought i could do a good turn, there is nothing i wouldnt consider doing for america. Mr. Rubenstein lets oppose the president is reelected. Would you be willing to serve for 1, 2, three years of a next term . Sec. Pompeo hard to know. Hard to answer those questions. The real question is with the president still want mike pompeo as his secretary of state. Mr. Rubenstein when you meet with the president , is he best with oral communication, written communication . What is the process by which decisions are made . Sec. Pompeo when i brief him myself, i always prefer to have documents the way i prefer to receive information, so i almost always bring something, a onepage summary at the very least. Here are the priorities. Here is how we should frame this particular problem. The president does like to engage in oral exchanges. I have found them elucidating. He is very focused on where the money is and how we use economic leverage to achieve our ends. Generally, there has been tension between secretaries of state and National Security advisers. How is your relationship with john bolton . Sec. Pompeo there is always tension among leaders of different organizations. We come at these things from a different viewpoint. Ambassador bolton has a viewssibility to get his to the president. Secretary of energy, other secretaries have their views. We have lively debates. I disagree with them often and agree with them sometimes. Mr. Rubenstein we have a dozen ambassadors here. What would you give them as insight as the best way to influence the president on Foreign Policy matters . Sec. Pompeo deliver value. Its not about does he like mike or alice. Up withut, did you show an informed, factbased theory that can deliver the outcomes that are the commanders intent . If we do that, if we show up with the best answers, we will drive policy. If we dont, we will be banging our gums. Mr. Rubenstein there are reports today that the new head intelligence will be john ratcliffe. Some people say hes too political for that position. You have served in