Trump enters US state department for first time as his favourite Mike Pompeo takes over as secy

He became the US secretary of state a month after the ouster of Rex Tillerson, the first incumbent in the Donald Trump presidency and he made it riding a close majority in the Senate voting, but Mike Pompeo seems to have an open field ahead.

On Wednesday, May 2, Pompeo took over the reins of the department of state and he had a strong endorsement from none other than Trump, who himself made his maiden visit to the department amid a loud reception from a several hundred strong crowds.

Trump praises Pompeo, his man for the moment

Trump praised Pompeo's words that North Kore must commit to dismantling its nuclear armament programme, saying the spirit of the state department impressed him. He also lauded Pompeo's record as the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency, the post he served before taking over as the secretary of state.

Pompeo had made a secret visit to North Korea during the Easter holidays as the CIA director to meet its leader Kim Jong-un to pave the way for Trump's much-awaited meeting with Kim in another few weeks over North Korea's denuclearisation.

Trump sacked Tillerson in March over public disagreements over North Korea, Russia and Iran. The department itself was made less significant on a major foreign policy matter and the spree of resignations by senior diplomats did not help its cause either. It was only after the hawkish Pompeo arrived on the scene that Trump started believing the department again.

He told Pompeo that he had full faith in Pompeo to make America proud again before Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath in Pompeo's swearing-in.

Pompeo already rushed to West Asia to get anti-Iran alliance strong

Pompeo has already visited West Asia to meet the American allies to end disputes between them so that they all could take on Iran, the country which the Trump administration has targeted, together.

Trump-Pompe-Bolton: The troika is complete

The new secretary of state's urgency to take up the Iran issue indicated how aggressively the Trump-Pompeo duo is going to conduct Washington's foreign policy. And then there is the ultra-hawkish John Bolton who took over last month as the third national security adviser in less than a year and a half into Trump's presidency.

Pompeo said during his formal inauguration that Pyongyang must commit to getting rid of its nuclear armament programme and added that the efforts to denuclearise North Korea were still in the earlier stages and the final outcome was still not known.

Pompeo's words came almost a week after Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a historic Inter-Korean Summit at the border village of Punmunjeom.

He also echoed Trump's take on the nuclear deal with Iran saying Washington was considering the next steps on a "flawed" nuclear agreement with Iran. He also spoke about the USA's preparations on confronting an aggressive Russia.