“I find that question insulting and ridiculous and frankly ludicrous!” – Read this FEISTY exchange between Pompeo and reporters

This is right from the State Department’s website, where Secretary Pompeo got pretty perturbed with reporters who kept pressing him on why the word ‘verifiable’ isn’t in the document Trump signed with KJU.

You can read the entire document here, but I picked it up where Pompeo first used the term ‘verifiable’ to give you as full a context as possible:

QUESTION: I wanted to follow up just quickly on one thing that you said to Michael. Why would the President use the term “provocative,” though, to describe the military exercises when that’s a term that often North Koreans and the Chinese use, and we’ve said that they are – that they’re long planned and for purposes of readiness?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. I mean, I think – I think the President was very clear. His intention here was to put us in a place where we get the opportunity to have productive conversations connected to the denuclearization of North Korea. Our mission hasn’t changed, right. A lot has been made of the fact that the word “verifiable” didn’t appear in the agreement. Let me assure you that the “complete” encompasses verifiable in the minds of everyone concerned. One can’t completely denuclearize without validating, authenticating – you pick the word.

The President’s committed to that. He believes that having made this commitment to Chairman Kim, that so long as we were making progress and having good-faith, productive conversations that we were setting the right conditions for moving forward with those talks. I think that’s what the President was thinking of when he made that commitment to him.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I wanted to ask you about “verifiable and irreversible.”

SECRETARY POMPEO: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: You said – the day before you said it’s our only objective, our – it’s clear we want that. It’s not in the statement. Why it’s not in the statement? And the President said it will —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Mm-hmm, it’s in the statement. It’s in the statement. You’re just wrong about that.

QUESTION: How is it in the statement? And I am also —

SECRETARY POMPEO: You’re just – because “complete” encompasses verifiable and irreversible. It just – I suppose we – you could argue semantics, but let me assure you that it’s in the document.

QUESTION: And the President said it will be verified.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Of course it will.

QUESTION: Can you tell us a little bit more about —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Of course it will. I mean —

QUESTION: — what is – what discussed about how?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Just so you know, you could ask me this – I find that question insulting and ridiculous and, frankly, ludicrous. I just have to be honest with you. It’s a game and one ought not play games with serious matters like this.

QUESTION: But how will it be verified? Did you discuss that? Do you have —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Oh, we’re – they’re – the modalities are beginning to develop. There’ll be a great deal of work to do. It’s – there’s a long way to go, there’s much to think about, but don’t say silly things. No, don’t, don’t. It’s not productive. It’s not productive to do that, to say silly things. It’s just – it’s unhelpful.

QUESTION: Well, I think —

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s unhelpful for your readers, your listeners, for the world. It’s – because it doesn’t remotely reflect the American position or the understandings that the North Koreans have either.

QUESTION: We’re just trying to understand how it reflects what you asked that —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, and I just articulated that for you.

QUESTION: Okay.

He sure says ‘mm-hmm’ a lot. LOL!

He’s obviously frustrated with the press, and to be fair, he had just explained that the word ‘complete’ encompassed everything, including the verification process.

But they pressed him on it anyway and he clearly became upset at what he felt like was a misinterpretation by the press, suggesting the verification process wasn’t apart of the agreement. He told them not to ‘say silly things’, that it’s unproductive and unhelpful.


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