INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
has managed where others have failed to stay in President Donald Trump's good graces, joked Monday that he knows how he'll leave -- when he
learns on Twitter.In a rare light-hearted comment about his notoriously mercurial boss, Trump's loyal top diplomat alluded to the inglorious
fate of his predecessor, Rex Tillerson.Asked at a forum in his home state of Kansas how long he will remain secretary of state, Pompeo said
to the audience's laughter: "I'm going to be there until he tweets me out of office."Which I'm not counting on, at least today," Pompeo
said, before praising Trump.Pompeo, who served at the start of Trump's term as CIA director, is careful not to show any daylight with the
president and has succeeded in becoming one of the rare original cabinet members who has not clashed with him.Tillerson, a courtly former
oil executive who pressed unsuccessfully for Trump to stay in international agreements, was sacked by tweet after he returned from a trip to
Africa, with the White House letting it be known that he learned the news while on the toilet.Pompeo, a former congressman popular with
conservatives, has been recruited by top Republicans to run for an open Senate seat in Kansas next year when Trump is up for re-election.He
has been coy about his intentions
In an interview with his hometown newspaper The Wichita Eagle, Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, said of his political future: "The Lord
will get me to the right place."Pompeo returned to Kansas ahead of a trip to the Middle East for a conference on promoting opportunities for
businesses from the American heartland.The meeting will lead up to the June 4-5 "Global Entrepreneurship Summit" in The Hague that Pompeo
will co-host with The Netherlands.Echoing a Trump theme of anti-elitism, Pompeo said he wanted to recruit more diplomats away from the US
coasts."The State Department prides itself on having a diverse workforce
There's many dimensions to that
I want to make sure everyone we hire is not from New York or Boston or Washington," he told the forum.(Except for the headline, this story
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