Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he isn't going anywhere. President Trump is still reportedly looking for his successor.
Pompeo has avoided the private and public criticism that Trump doles out to most of his administration, and has denied the idea of running for the seat Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) will be vacating in 2020. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is still reportedly pushing Pompeo to run, leaving a handful of administration officials and outsiders looking to become Trump's next secretary of state, The Washington Post reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That uncertainty has left national security adviser Robert O'Brien the most likely candidate to replace Pompeo should he decide to run. Trump and Pompeo both like O'Brien, and he "works well with all the various administration factions — which is rare," the Post says. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is also close with Trump, and "some officials believe Mnuchin is angling for the job," the Post continues. Trump has also reportedly weighed the idea of slotting Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell into the role, as well as State Department envoy to Iran Brian Hook, who is close with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Read more at The Washington Post.
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
Codeword: December 4, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Sudoku hard: December 4, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
