President Donald Trump has eight days left until the end of his term and he leaves the White House. With the clock counting down, his government is collapsing amid the chaos and insurrection that washed over Washington, DC last week, and scared the world.
Cabinet members began to abandon the president, who incited a far-right crowd to break into the Capitol building last week, while lawmakers tried to certify the election results.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – a pillar of the Trump administration since he was appointed to his current post in April 2018 – has remained loyal, tweeting every day to commemorate what he considers the main government achievements, interspersed with the same image, declaring repeatedly: “American First.”
Pompeo’s farewell tweet began on January 1, even as the president continued his spurious inquiries about the November election result. “My New Year’s Resolution: Give the American people the full story about our foreign policy,” wrote Pompeo. “You can’t read anywhere else.”
“We are much safer today than we were four years ago,” he added. “In the next few days, I will present the mission set, the big wins, personal stories and more. Just me, Mike.”
Every day since then, Pompeo has been tweeting about different foreign policy issues, be it issues like human rights and trade or American relations with specific nations like China, Iran, Russia and others.
“America is a force for good – an exceptional nation like no other in history,” wrote Pompeo. “The first country to recognize that every human being has God-given rights. Truly a bright city on a hill.”
The West Point graduate, a former Kansas congressman and head of the CIA, has been one of the president’s staunchest public allies, driving Trump’s unilateralist “America first” foreign policy and leading government campaigns against opponents like Iran and China.
But Pompeo was also widely accused of politicizing the State Department to support the president’s divisive and personal agenda, propagandizing propaganda and disinformation to defend the government and attack his critics.
The Secretary of State even initially supported Trump’s baseless claim that he – and not President-elect Joe Biden – won the November presidential election.
Pompeo’s patriotic tweet so far has not included any self-criticism or admission of failure, despite concerns that Trump’s mandate has eroded U.S. global leadership and damaged long-standing alliances. Pompeo tweeted on Sunday that these alliances could “last longer than the expiration date”.
Critics say Trump’s tenure also undermined the United States’ claim to be defenders of human rights and democracy. Pompeo himself was widely condemned for not recognizing Biden’s victory in November.
“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” he told reporters on November 10, even after he was almost certain that the president had been defeated.
“Realism. Restriction. Respect for our foundation. These are the central ideas that define America First. And they helped us make Americans – and the world – safer. #NotTiredOfWinning,” he wrote on January 1.
Pompeo also celebrated the “arrogance” that he and his team exhibited. “Swagger (def.): To represent America with pride, humility and professionalism. We made it. #Swagger”.
Self-congratulatory tweets continued last week as a pro-Trump crowd descended on Washington, DC to try to overturn the presidential election results, with the president urging them to go to the Capitol building. Some protesters eventually broke into the building, forcing lawmakers to flee. Five people, including a police officer, died during the unrest.
That same day, Pompeo celebrated the government’s work to make American energy dependent, its work with allies to contain China in the Pacific and its cyber security efforts against “bad guys” in Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.
Critics believe Trump’s unapologetic unilateralism has damaged the United States’ position, but President Pompeo and his allies argue that the government broke with diplomatic conventions to achieve significant success.
Some of the most unexpected were normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and human rights abuses against the Palestinians have long blocked ties with Arab and North African countries.
But under Trump’s guidance, these four nations abandoned their longstanding opposition, to the fury of the Palestinians and their allies, as well as the elites of American foreign policy.
China hovered over Trump’s presidency, and the government devised a new and aggressive strategy to contain the Chinese Communist Party.
During Trump’s tenure, the long-held belief among foreign policy experts and lawmakers that the United States must confront Beijing has surfaced and bled into national public discourse.
This was partially fueled by the coronavirus crisis and increased coverage of human rights abuses and territorial expansion in China.
While critics may disagree with the method – especially the trillion-dollar trade war with Beijing – few would argue that China poses a threat to American interests.
In fact, even Biden has pledged to fight back against Beijing, albeit with more focus on multilateralism than on Trump.
One of the cornerstones of Trump’s strategy in China was his recent friendship with nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India. Both men were accused of fomenting extremist violence against their opponents, but both also have devoted followers.
Trump and his allies celebrated what they claimed was a strategic victory in closer cooperation between the US and India, although in reality, India should not abandon its traditional policy of non-alignment anytime soon in favor of entering the orbit of states United.
Still, the close relationship between the two leaders may still lead to closer cooperation between Delhi and Washington, DC, particularly in China’s trade, military sales and containment.
Trump’s lack of political experience and truculent instincts led to many speculations about new wars. Although he came close to opening a conflict with Iran and North Korea, Trump is the first president since Jimmy Carter to not send American troops into a new conflict.
The president has also consistently lobbied to end America’s so-called eternal wars and bring troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria home. Trump also announced the end of the long military deployment in Germany and thought about doing it in South Korea, much to the Pentagon’s horror.
Still, Trump is not a pacifist president. He launched attacks on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ordered the assassination of Iranian commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani, and loosened the rules of engagement for American drone attacks, leading to a significant increase in their use in the Middle East. and in Africa.
Trump has long shown disdain for civilian victims, during the campaign promising to kill the families of suspected terrorists and allegedly pressuring the CIA to do so as soon as he takes office.
Their lack of concern is demonstrated by statistics – in Afghanistan, the number of civilian casualties in U.S. air strikes has increased by 330 percent since 2016. And in Syria and Iraq, it remains unknown how many civilians were killed by American forces supporting the campaign against Islamic State militants.
Al Drago / Getty Images / Getty
As the siege of the Capitol unfolded, Pompeo tweeted the condemnation of the attack. “Taking over the US Capitol today is unacceptable,” he said.
“Illegality and disturbances – here or around the world – are always unacceptable. I have traveled to many countries and always support the right of every human being to protest peacefully for their beliefs and causes.”
“But the violence, which endangers the safety of other people, including those charged with providing security for all of us, is intolerable both at home and abroad. We will bring justice quickly to the criminals who have been involved in this riot.”
He added: “America is better than what we saw today in a place where I served as a member of Congress and saw democracy firsthand at its best.”
Like Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of democratic elections, the invasion of the Capitol has given America’s rivals an invaluable opportunity to mock the U.S. and withstand years of criticism from the White House and the State Department.
For nations like Iran, China and Russia, last week’s chaos in Washington, DC, has priceless propaganda value, exposing the flaws and cracks in America’s esteemed democratic ideals.
Pompeo later responded to these criticisms by denying that America had become a “banana republic”, an expression traditionally used to describe politically unstable dictatorships in Latin America and Africa.
“Slander reveals a flawed understanding of banana republics and democracy in America,” said Pompeo.
“In a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power.
“In the United States, law enforcement officials repress mob violence so that people’s representatives can exercise power under the rule of law and constitutional government.”
Pompeo also defended the president against allegations that he incited the crowd that invaded the Capitol. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – among other platforms – banned the president’s accounts after the violence, citing the risk of further unrest.
Tweeting from his personal account, Pompeo wrote: “Silencing speech is dangerous. It is not American. Unfortunately, this is not a new tactic from the left. They have worked to silence opposing voices for years. We cannot let them silence 75 million Americans. This is not the CCP. “
Pompeo is expected to use his time in government as a springboard for a future run for the Senate or even for the presidency. Pompeo’s stubborn public loyalty to Trump has united his legacies.
Like other prominent Republicans, including Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others, Pompeo may have decided that Trump’s highly motivated far-right base offers him a chance for further electoral success.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images / Getty
This article has been updated to include more information about the Trump administration’s foreign policy record.