HOUSTON — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Houston Tuesday to deliver a speech at the CERAWeek energy conference.
But he spoke with KHOU 11 News first.
We began with the news that diplomats are being removed from increasingly volatile Venezuela.
“We made the decision last night,” said Pompeo. “The situation in Venezuela changed, the risk to American diplomats was too great. So, we’ve decided that we’ll have them all return to the U.S.”
The Trump Administration had previously vowed to keep diplomats in the country amid unrest to help legitimize President Nicolas Maduro’s challenger.
Secretary Pompeo said work with neighboring nations will continue despite the pullout.
“We want a better life, we want Democracy returned to Venezuela,” said Pompeo.
Easing tensions around the world is the state department’s endless mission.
We also asked Pompeo about the biggest global concerns, at the moment.
“We certainly focused on North Korea, trying to convince Chairman Kim to honor the commitment he made this past June to de-nuclearize,” said Pompeo. “The President’s focused on the border as well, that matters here in Texas. It’s a national security issue too.”
Just this week, we learned President Trump’s new budget seeks more than $8 billion for the border wall.
“I don’t do political predictions, I’m kind of out of that business,” said Pompeo. “But I think there’s bipartisan consensus that there’s real risk and there’s a crisis down at our border.”
Pompeo was reportedly set to meet with oil industry execs during the CERAWeek event in an effort to boost U.S. exports.
“If we keep winning in the energy world here at home, folks that live in San Antonio, Houston, Longview, the people of Texas will be safer, more secure, and we’ll do a good turn for the rest of the world,” said Pompeo.
We also asked Pompeo about the 2020 election and a new poll by Monmouth University that said 57% of Americans want a new president.
“I’m in charge of working as America’s senior diplomat and working to keep America safe,” said Pompeo. “I suppose if we do that, the American people will be more likely to be happy, but that’s not what I’m focused on”
You can watch the entire interview in the video above or here on KHOU.com.
ALSO POPULAR ON KHOU.COM:
- Rep. Schiff: Pelosi 'absolutely right' to hold back impeachment
- Endgame: UK's May aims to avert looming Brexit deal defeat
- Trump seeks to boost VA spending by $6.5 billion
- Trump seeks $2 billion to shelter migrant children at border
- Milwaukee beats out Houston to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention