Pompeo Says Trump Spoke With National Security Team, Everyone Ready For Any Challenges

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says US President Donald Trump's team is ready for any challenges, including in view of Trump having gotten infected with COVID-19.

"I did get a chance to talk with the President at some length today, and the - I think he spoke with his entire national security team today. Look, this is a team - I've been working for this President for almost four years now - this is a team that is mature and capable. We're fully prepared for all of the possibilities that may take place," Pompeo told reporters in Maryland, as quoted by the US State Department on Sunday.

Pompeo did not disclose the details of his conversation with Trump but said that he received some guidance for his upcoming trip to Asia.

"His [Trump's] spirits were great. He was in a great mood. He was as direct and candid with me as he always is, and it was a great conversation. I'm now looking forward to getting here and I told him I would give him a holler as soon as I was on my way back," Pompeo said.

On Saturday, the US State Department said that Pompeo's planned trip to Asia was going to be limited to Japan only. Initially, Pompeo planned to visit Japan, Mongolia and South Korea between October 4 and October 8.

Asked about the possibility of people taking advantage of the current situation where Trump remains at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Pompeo reiterated that the Trump team is ready for anything.

"This is a team that's ready. Look, the message that I've gotten from around the world - I've talked to, goodness, more than half a dozen world leaders over the last few days - was all to tell the President and the First Lady to get well and get healthy. We know there's rogue actors, we know there's malign actors around the world. The United States is fully prepared, both the State Department and our diplomats. I was with General Milley [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] this afternoon. Everyone's ready," Pompeo told reporters on Sunday.

Dr. Brian Garibaldi of Johns Hopkins University, in charge of the president's therapeutics, said on Sunday that Trump had responded well to the remdesivir antiviral treatment and that he could be allowed to return to the White House as early as Monday.

The Monday White House schedule shows no public events scheduled for Trump.

Trump briefly left the Walter Reed hospital to greet his supporters on Sunday, albeit from behind the window of his SUV.

In a video released on his Twitter account on Sunday Trump said he had learned a lot about the coronavirus in the past days and that it had been an "interesting journey."

Trump arrived at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland on Friday, after announcing on Twitter that he and his wife Melania had tested positive for the coronavirus.