Interview
Secretary of State
QUESTION: Thirty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome in to the Voice of Reason here on a Monday. It’s a beautiful day. I want to get right into it as we have limited time with our next guest, but I’m so excited to have him back on the program as he’s actually back in Kansas for a couple of days here. Secretary of State for the United States, Mr. Mike Pompeo, on the line with us here.
Mr. Secretary, how are you, sir?
SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m great, Andy. It’s great to be back on with you and it’s great to be back home in Kansas.
QUESTION: Ah, it’s great to have you back here and always great to have you on the show, my friend. You’ve been a busy guy – I know you’re in town – but I want to talk about your entrepreneurial event that you’re speaking at today up in Kansas City, but big stuff going on with the Secretary, the State Department.
We’ve got to ask – I know the big news, of course, has been lately with all the issues going on with North Korea, and then backing out of stuff. What’s going on over there? Do we see any chance of negotiations still going on out there?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So we’ve been at this now for – goodness, a little over a year. We’ve made real progress. We’ve got missile tests stopped, we’ve got nuclear testing stopped, we got some of our hostages home, which was a blessing. But we still haven’t made the progress we need to make on denuclearization. The conversations certainly continue. I hope we can achieve that. Chairman Kim made a commitment to President Trump and, frankly, to the world back in June of last year in Singapore. He promised he would denuclearize, and the world is demanding that. American safety depends on it, and we’re determined to achieve it.
QUESTION: Well, good. And I think he would look pretty foolish if he starts backing out on stuff now for no apparent reason, so hopefully we do see that. Coming up today, you are speaking in Kansas City for an entrepreneurial event. Talk a little bit about that. What’s bringing you back to Kansas?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So you know the State Department’s first client is, of course, the American people and keeping the American people safe. Among the things that is most important to have a robust American national security apparatus is a growing economy, and the State Department helps with that.
We wanted to come here today to talk to that – talk to folks here in the heartland about that. If you’ve got a small business like I did back in south central Kansas and you want to sell your products, your goods, your services across the world in international markets, the State Department can help. If you’re looking for investors from across the world or partners, or others to help you innovate, we can help you with that too. We have a number of programs that are aimed squarely at growing the American economy, growing American businesses. And today we’ll talk to entrepreneurs here in Kansas City and both sides of the state border, and share with them what it is the State Department can help deliver on their behalf so they can grow their company.
QUESTION: We are really seeing economic growth. I mean, the GDP’s been growing more so under President Trump than it was under President Barack Obama. Are we still seeing the onset down the road here of continued economic growth all over the country?
SECRETARY POMPEO: We’re confident that we can, whether that’s the reduced regulatory environment that we’re in today or the pro-growth policies of President Trump. We’re convinced the economy will still be thriving next year and the year after. Things look pretty good and we’ve got some of the lowest unemployment we’ve ever had in history. That’s all across the board. That’s for African Americans and women. President Trump has put the American economy on the right course, and one of the reasons I’m out here today is to make sure that continues.
QUESTION: Sure. This is a two-parter, isn’t it? I mean, it’s in Kansas City now, and it’s going to be in the Netherlands, I believe, in June, correct?
SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s right, and we’ve got senior leaders from the Netherlands that will be with us here today, both government officials and entrepreneurs from their country. We’ll be traveling to do this in the summertime there. This is a global effort. The folks who come today to the seminar will get to meet people from all across the world, to network, to develop relationships so that they can put their business on a trajectory for international growth.
QUESTION: I love it. International growth right here in Kansas, and that’s something we should be very proud of. You guys actually at the State Department have opportunities, and I know you want to mention this as well at the event today, but even people that can’t make it to the event, there’s actually opportunities for people to jump on board and work with you guys at the State Department, correct?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So what the State Department does is absolutely central for America to keep Kansas safe, and being an American diplomat is a noble job. It’s interesting. It’s fascinating. We are engineers, linguists, we have people with – doctors, we have people with every skillset. And I wanted to come to Kansas today to talk to Kansans to tell them: If it’s something that you’re interested in, if you think traveling the world and representing America across the world is something you might be interested in, go onto our website to careers.state.gov, and see if it’s for you. It’s great opportunities. They’re wonderful jobs where you can learn, make yourself better, and do so while you’re keeping American safe.
QUESTION: Hey, I love it. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. I know you’re short on time, my friend, but we love every time you come back here to Kansas. We love getting you on the program. There’s a lot of stuff going on, especially with the elections going on next year, and I know they’ve been talking to you about that kind of stuff, but I know you’re focused on a lot of great projects right now keeping America safe and working with a lot of the other nations. So we thank you for what you do each and every day, my friend.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Andy, thank you very much. It’s great to be back with you and it’s great to be back talking to Kansans. Hope you all are doing great.
QUESTION: Hey, I love it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo right there.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, sir.
QUESTION: We’ll get you back on the show again real soon. Always a pleasure right there. There it is, Secretary of State for the United States, Mr. Mike Pompeo on the program.
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