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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was right to call the world’s attention Thursday to Iran’s unprovoked attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier in the day. Pompeo said the U.S. holds Iran responsible for this dangerous aggression – a clear warning to the mullahs who rule the Islamic Republic that the U.S. will ensure they face consequences. It would be irresponsible for the Trump administration to turn a blind eye to what Pompeo called Iran’s “blatant assault.”

All 44 crew members from two oil tankers that came under attack in the Sea of Oman south of the Iranian coast have been rescued.... The Associated Press reports that the two vessels were carrying Japan related cargo and the attacks come as Japan's Prime Minister was visiting Iran to discuss tensions..... President Trump tweeted just before 230 pm Eastern time Thursday his appreciation to Mr. Abe for talking to the Iranians but said that when it comes to making a deal: "They are not ready, and neither are we!". Meanwhile the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says this regarding...

For a president who won his office by denouncing the Middle East wars into which George W. Bush and Barack Obama plunged the nation, Donald Trump has assembled the most unabashedly hawkish conclave of foreign policy advisers in memory. And he himself seems to concede the point. If foreign policy were decided by my security adviser John Bolton, the president confided recently, "We'd be in four wars by now." It was Bolton who ordered the Abraham Lincoln carrier group and B-52s to the Gulf and told the Pentagon to draw up plans to send 120,000 U.S. troops. It is Bolton...

Maybe it's John Bolton clutching a gun. Maybe it's Mike Pompeo setting down his binoculars to stare into the distance. Maybe it's the gators. But a newly unveiled painting meant to depict President Trump and his team navigating the Washington "swamp" has something for everyone. Utah-based artist Jon McNaughton touched off a social media frenzy as he shared his painting, “Crossing the Swamp,” Tuesday on Twitter. The painting is a riff on the classic “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” only it replaces George Washington's crew with members of the Trump administration.

North Korea executed Kim Hyok Chol, its special envoy to the United States, and foreign ministry officials who carried out working-level negotiations for the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February, holding them responsible for its collapse, a South Korean newspaper reported on Friday. Kim Yong Chol, a senior official who had been U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s counterpart in the run-up to the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, is also said to have been subjected to forced labor and ideological education, the Chosun Ilbo reported. The North Korean leader...

Mike Pompeo doesn’t reckon himself a media critic, but the secretary of state can’t help but grin at the hysterical coverage that attends the Trump administration’s every move on the world stage. The latest example came last week, when reporters and liberal foreign-policy types managed to convince themselves that Team Trump was prepping a full-scale invasion of Iran. “White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War” screamed a New York Times headline. “When you see that headline, it’s flashy, but it doesn’t begin to reflect the depth of the work that’s been done,” Pompeo says as...

The United States State Department is "seeing signs" of chemical weapons use by Syrian government forces in northwestern Syria. The State Department promising Tuesday that the US and allied nations will respond "quickly and appropriately" if the use of chemical weapons is proven.... Top US officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford briefed members of Congress Tuesday about Iran.... The United Nations representative for Libya says steps need to be taken to cut off arms supplies to Libya where a government ostensibly backed by the UN is...

Frustrated Senate Republicans say the Trump administration has largely kept them in the dark about a possible military confrontation with Iran. What GOP lawmakers already know, however, has them on edge. Trump has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group, a Patriot missile defense battery and an Air Force bomber task force to the Middle East, while the State Department has ordered a partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. A few legislators have received briefings, but many can only guess at the extent of the threat and where a ramp up in combat forces may lead. “I don’t think...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi officials that U.S. intelligence showed Iran-backed militias moved missiles near bases housing American forces. Pompeo made the disclosure to Iraq’s top brass during his surprise visit earlier this month, Reuters reported. The revelation comes just hours after all non-emergency personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq was ordered to leave the country. He asked the military officials to keep the Shi’ite militias in control as they are expanding their presence in the country and now are part of the country’s security apparatus. The top diplomat warned that otherwise, the U.S. would have to...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a busy man these days. He’s logging enough frequent flyer miles book free vacations for the rest of his life. Today he’s in Brussels to push back on the European Union as they prepare to try to salvage the Iran nuclear deal without America’s support. By the way… remind me again why we’re so worried about offending the EU anymore? It’s not as if they’re really coming down on the right side of history in a lot of current debates. (Washington Post) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday arrived Brussels in an unplanned...

An attack on a church in the African nation of Burkina Faso Sunday. Six dead including the priest with the church burned down.... "It was the army that came to the rescue" the words of France's leading opposition politician Marine Le Pen in relation to the rescue of four hostages from Islamic terrorists in Burkina Faso Thursday night..... A Christian town in northern Syria rocketed by jihadists Sunday. Six were killed..... Almost a year after he was arrested live streaming outside a child sex abuse trial involving Muslim defendants summarily tried and sent off to prison British activist Tommy Robinson...

Washington (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is heading to Russia with an unusual and thankless task -- standing firm against the rival power even as his boss, President Donald Trump, reaches out to reconcile. Pompeo will meet Tuesday with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, in the highest-level US engagement with the Russian leader since a July summit in Helsinki after which Trump faced wide scorn at home for his trustful embrace of the Russian leader. The top US diplomat's trip comes less than two months after Special Counsel Robert Mueller wound up an investigation...

The United States is moving a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East due to an Iranian threat..... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visiting Russia Monday and Tuesday..... In what she says is an act inconsistent with the tradition of free nations like Canada, Canadian Senator Lynn Beyak has been suspended..... A French military operation in the African nation of Burkina Faso has freed four hostages including an American citizen, a South Korean and two Frenchmen. The operation staged overnight Thursday with two French soldiers killed.... In northern Syria Friday a counterattack by jihadist forces beaten back by the Syrian...

Tariffs on some goods imported from China were raised from 10 to 25 percent effective at 12:01 AM Eastern US time Friday morning.... "America stands with the GREAT PEOPLE of Venezuela for however long it takes!" President Trump tweeted late Wednesday night just hours after secret police in Venezuela arrested the Vice-President of the country's National Assembly..... North Korea conducting missile tests Thursday.... The US seizing a North Korean cargo ship...... Russia urging other nations to keep doing business with Iran in spite of new sanctions announced this week by the United States and Iranian moves to operate outside the...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have agreed to meet again next week.... Pompeo met with top Iraqi officials amidst a US warning based on Israeli intelligence reports, citing an Iranian threat to US interests..... Iran made official Wednesday what it was already reported to doing in recent days. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani informed Russia, China and other nations still involved in the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement (France, Germany United Kingdom) that Iran is pulling out... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacting Wednesday saying: "Israel won't let Iran get nuclear weapons".... The Syrian Army...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a sudden, unscheduled trip to Baghdad on Tuesday, as an aircraft carrier and Air Force bombers headed to the Middle East amid warnings that Iran was contemplating an attack on U.S. troops in the region. The surprise visit came after Pompeo abruptly canceled a trip to Germany, where he was scheduled to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. The State Department initially said only that the change was made because “pressing issues” had arisen. Pompeo’s visit to Baghdad, which followed an Arctic Council meeting in Finland, took on an air...

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has abruptly cancelled a long-established plan to hold talks with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin, citing unspecified “international security issues”.

Washington (CNN)Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abruptly canceled a scheduled trip to Germany, where he was planning to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel "due to pressing issues," the State Department said early Tuesday. No specific reason was given for the cancellation. The press pool traveling with Pompeo has not been told where they are going next, and have been warned they may not be able to report from the country they are going to until after their departure.

Joe Scarborough's white-hot hatred of Donald Trump apparently extends to members of the President's administration. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough launched a nasty, personal attack on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. After playing a clip of Pompeo expressing frustration at Chris Wallace asking on Fox News Sunday, asking why President Trump didn't bring up election meddling with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, Scarborough came unglued, calling Pompeo, among other insults, an "absolute fool" who is "beneath contempt," complete with his wife's supportive echoing. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

enezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was prepared to leave the country Tuesday and seek asylum in Cuba but was stopped by Russia, U.S. officials said. “We’ve watched throughout the day, it’s been a long time since anyone’s seen Maduro,” Pompeo told CNN. “He had an airplane on the tarmac, he was ready to leave this morning as we understand it and the Russians indicated he should stay.” Pompeo said Maduro had been planning to travel to Havana. Asked if Maduro would have been allowed to safely depart for Cuba, Pompeo dodged the question. “Mr. Maduro understands what will happen if he...