Pompeo, who served under Trump between 2017 and 2021, first as CIA director and later as secretary of state, argued that Trump would not allow the Kremlin a free hand.
“President Trump is not going to allow Vladimir Putin to roll through Ukraine,” he told Fortune magazine. “Withdrawing funding from the Ukrainians would result in that and he will be told that by his entire team. It’s not his M.O. to allow that to happen.”
While campaigning for the White House, Trump said his priority was to bring an end to the war, which he said he could do before his January inauguration. He later claimed he could bring peace within 24 hours. He has consistently criticized the Biden administration’s support of Kyiv, primarily on the grounds of cost.
Speaking at Fortune’s Global Forum in New York on Monday, Pompeo, who has been a strong supporter of Kyiv since the outbreak of war in February 2022, framed the war in terms of democracy versus autocracy. In this context, he said the West had to be seen to win.
“It’s absolutely critically important that the perception is the West stood up to this thug and this horrible guy [Putin] and didn’t allow evil to triumph and that’s imperative,” Pompeo said. “I’m very hopeful President Trump will see that imperative.”
Another former CIA director and secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, who took part in the interview with Pompeo, said other autocrats would be watching Ukraine closely.
“In many ways Ukraine is also fighting for other democracies because the message that is sent to Putin is a very important message that has to be sent to [Chinese leader] Xi, it has to be sent to the Supreme Leader [of Iran], it has to be sent to (North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un — that they cannot just have their way with sovereign democracies,” Panetta, who served in several Democratic administrations, said.
During his tenures in the previous Trump administration, Pompeo was often described as one of the president’s most loyal officials. Despite his staunch support, however, Trump
ruled Pompeo out of a future cabinet position on Saturday.
