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TEHRAN, April 12 -U.S. senators preparing for Mike Pompeo’s confirmation hearing on Thursday to become the next secretary of state said one of their main questions would be: will the CIA director be able to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump?
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -U.S. senators preparing for Mike Pompeo’s confirmation hearing on Thursday to become the next secretary of state said one of their main questions would be: will the CIA director be able to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump?
Trump nominated Pompeo to become the country’s top diplomat on March 13 when he fired Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil.
In his remarks, Pompeo will signal a harder line toward Moscow, while also delving into U.S. foreign policy challenges on North Korea, Iran and China, according to excerpts of his opening statement released in advance by the White House.
“Russia continues to act aggressively, enabled by years of soft policy toward that aggression. That’s now over,” he will say, according to the testimony.
Pompeo’s nomination comes as the Trump administration weighs military action in Syria over a suspected poison gas attack, which killed dozens of people and injured hundreds in the town of Douma.
In the excerpts, Pompeo does not refer to Russia’s apparent meddling in the 2016 U.S. election campaign, but the issue is likely to be raised by both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom have accused Trump of failing to be tough on Moscow.
Trump forged a warm relationship with Pompeo during White House meetings over the first year of his presidency and feels the former Republican congressman shares more of his view of the world than Tillerson, who at times disagreed with the president.
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said they would press Pompeo on the administration’s strategy on Syria, relations with Russia, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and plans for dealing with China’s growing international influence.
Source:Reuters
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