President Trump said he’s optimistic that Sen. Rand Paul will vote to confirm CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be secretary of state after Pompeo’s “really great” meeting last week with Kim Jong Un.
Paul, R-Ky., says he opposes Pompeo’s nomination. This makes it possible Pompeo will get a negative Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommendation, possibly jeopardizing his chances in a floor vote.
Critics of Pompeo cast him as a war-monger, and Paul pressed him during a recent confirmation on the legality of Trump’s strikes on Syria and on the wisdom of keeping troops in Afghanistan.
“I will say this about Rand Paul: He’s never let me down. Rand Paul is a very special guy so far as I’m concerned,” Trump told reporters ahead of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida.
“He’s never let me down, and I don’t think he will let us down again. So let’s see what happens. If you remember, he voted for healthcare and he did us a big favor. It was someone else who voted against it. So I have a lot of confidence in Rand, ” Trump said.
He continued: “But I also have a great deal of confidence in Mike Pompeo. I think Mike Pompeo will go down as one of the great secretaries of state. And by the way he just left North Korea, had a great meeting with Kim Jong Un, and got along with him really well, really great, and he’s that kind of guy. He’s very smart, but he gets along with people.”
Pompeo needs 51 votes to win confirmation. Republicans hold just 51 seats in the Senate, and with Arizona Sen. John McCain’s absence for cancer treatment and Paul’s opposition, Democratic votes are needed.
Pompeo was confirmed as CIA director in a 66-32 vote last year, but four Democrats who supported him now say they will vote against his nomination.
Trump called Paul Wednesday to urge him to change his stance on Pompeo, Paul spokesman Sergio Gor said.
“Senator Paul has agreed to meet with Mr. Pompeo. Nothing else has changed,” Gor said.
Appearing to reflect the precarious nature of the nomination, the White House organized a conference call with reporters Wednesday, urging bipartisan support for Pompeo, whose recent trip to North Korea was first reported Tuesday afternoon.
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said on the White House call that Pompeo deserved Democratic votes in part because he received “the commendation of no less than Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, and others.”
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. “A lot of people are predicting other things, but I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well, and I think our country really needs him.”
