Mike Pompeo cancels Europe trip after officials decline to meet with him

Oliver O'Connell
·1 min read
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In this file photo taken on 19 August 2020 US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during a press conference with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at the State Department in Washington, DC. (AFP via Getty Images)
In this file photo taken on 19 August 2020 US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during a press conference with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at the State Department in Washington, DC. (AFP via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a trip to Europe trip at the last minute.

Mr Pompeo had been due to fly out on Tuesday but Reuters reports that Luxembourg’s foreign minister and several top European Union officials have declined to meet with him.

Diplomats and people familiar with the matter confirmed the news to the wire service. The secretary was supposed to meet with his counterpart in Luxembourg before travelling on to Brussels.

The extraordinary snub to Washington comes just days after the storming of the Capitol by thousands of supporters of Donald Trump, an unprecedented attack on American democracy that stunned many world leaders and US allies.

Mr Pompeo, a close ally of the president, had sought to meet Jean Asselborn in Luxembourg, before meeting EU leaders and the bloc's top diplomat in Brussels.

Three people close to the scheduling of the trip confirmed the news to Reuters.

More to follow…