Pompeo issues first tweets as secretary of State

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday vowed to put “the interests of the American people first” in his first tweets as the nation’s top diplomat.

“I’m grateful to @POTUS for the honor to serve as our nation’s 70th Secretary of State. So many matters of global importance demand our focus,” Pompeo tweeted.

“I’m committed to putting the interests of the American people first and look forward to serving with the world’s finest diplomatic corps.”

I’m grateful to @POTUS for the honor to serve as our nation’s 70th Secretary of State. So many matters of global importance demand our focus. I’m committed to putting the interests of the American people first and look forward to serving with the world’s finest diplomatic corps. pic.twitter.com/qEWQ6oa3Rm

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 1, 2018

Pompeo, who officially took over at the helm of the State Department last week, also thanked his deputy, John Sullivan, for temporarily leading the department after former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was dismissed in March.

“He is a true patriot, leader, and public servant,” Pompeo wrote about Sullivan.

Thank you to Deputy Secretary of @StateDept John Sullivan for leading our diplomatic efforts over the last few weeks. He is a true patriot, leader, and public servant. pic.twitter.com/K68u7g8obL

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 1, 2018

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The tweets came hours after Pompeo, who has served as President Trump’s CIA director for the past year, addressed State Department employees in Foggy Bottom for the first time since being sworn in as the nation’s 70th secretary of State.

In his remarks, Pompeo vowed to bring a new “swagger” to a State Department that has been rocked by a hiring freeze and often sidelined by the White House on key foreign policy matters during Tillerson’s tenure.

“I talked about getting back our swagger,” Pompeo said. “The United States diplomatic corps needs to be in every corner, every stretch of the world executing missions on behalf of this country, and it is my humble, noble undertaking to help you achieve that.”

Pompeo’s remarks and subsequent tweets signaled that the new secretary may be trying to set his style apart from that of Tillerson, who was often seen as guarded and isolated from the White House.

Tillerson often faced the challenge of having the president weigh in on his actions using Twitter. For example, Trump tweeted in October that Tillerson was “wasting his time” trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Unlike Trump and Tillerson’s predecessor from the Obama administration, John Kerry, Tillerson also did not have a dedicated Twitter account during his tenure that he regularly used as secretary of State.

Pompeo wasted no time taking on the role of the nation’s chief diplomat. Almost immediately after he was sworn in last week, he jetted off to Brussels for a meeting with NATO allies, as well as to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders welcomed Pompeo into his new role on Tuesday, writing in a tweet that he would be an “amazing Secretary of State.”

“Welcome to Twitter @SecPompeo! You are going to be an amazing Secretary of State for @POTUS and we are all excited to work with you,” she tweeted.

Welcome to Twitter @SecPompeo! You are going to be an amazing Secretary of State for @POTUS and we are all excited to work with you. https://t.co/xJGYKvwaq2

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 1, 2018

–Updated at 5:16 p.m.