Sayeed Muhammad: Newly-appointed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to travel to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel over the weekend after a stopover in Brussels for a NATO meeting, according to the State Department.”No other secretary in recent history has gone on a trip as quickly as he has,” department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday, reports Al Arabiya. Pompeo was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday and took oath sworn shortly afterwards.The State Department said no secretary of state had ever travelled abroad so soon after taking the charge. Originally, Deputy Secretary John Sullivan, who had been filling in as secretary since Tillerson resigned, had planned to make the trip. With Pompeo’s confirmation imminent, the plane was held on the tarmac until Pompeo could arrive and swap in, according to AP. In Brussels, Pompeo will attend a NATO foreign ministers summit and meet with the top diplomats from Turkey and Italy. The 54-year-old diplomat planned to keep up pressure on NATO’s European members, particularly Germany, to live up to their past pledges to boost their defense spending.From there, the State Department said Pompeo.
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