Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday criticized President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani for his remarks about North Korea, adding that the former mayor does not speak for the administration on that issue.
“I know Rudy, Rudy doesn’t speak for the administration when it comes to this negotiation and this set of issues,” Pompeo said during a briefing on Trump’s upcoming North Korea summit.
While attending a business conference in Israel on Wednesday, the former New York City mayor said that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un “begged” Trump to continue with the summit after the president canceled it as a response to escalating rhetoric from Pyongyang.
“They also said they were going to go to nuclear war with us, they were going to defeat us in a nuclear war,” Giuliani said. “We said we’re not going to have a summit under those circumstances. Well, Kim Jong-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in,” he added.
According to CNN, Giuliani’s remarks caused worry in Washington from fear that Kim could put the summit in jeopardy yet again. Trump is scheduled to meet with Kim on Tuesday which will become the first meeting ever between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
Meanwhile, Pompeo said that he took Giuliani’s comments as a joke. “I took him as it being a small room and not being serious about the comments,” Pompeo said. “I think it was a bit in jest.”
When asked if Giuliani put the summit in jeopardy, Pompeo said, “We’re moving forward. We’re focused on the important things.”
This is not the first time that Giuliani has given his thoughts on North Korea. In May, Giuliani hinted at the release of the three U.S. prisoners from North Korea before any formal announcements were made.
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