Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not speculate on his greatest foreign policy fear under the team introduced by Joe Biden on Tuesday, including Biden's own Secretary of State nominee Tony Blinken.
But Pompeo did tell Fox News the Biden national security team takes a very different view than do he and President Donald Trump.
"I know some of these folks," Pompeo said Tuesday on "Special Report" with Bret Baier. "They lived in a bit of a fantasy world. They led from behind. They appeased. I hope they'll choose a different course."
The world is different than it was when they ran things in 2015, he said.
"I hope they'll see the things that we have done and how this has delivered greater peace in the Middle East, how it's reduced risk from North Korea, where we took down what was a very tense situation when we came into office, whether it's the central recognition of the Chinese Communist Party as a true threat to jobs all across America," he said. "If they'll keep those things at center point and center mass, I think America's trajectory will continue to be one that is safer, more prosperous, and more secure."
Pompeo said he has yet to speak with Blinken, but added his office has received word to begin the formal transition of power and, "we'll do everything that's required by law. We'll make this work."
Trump has not conceded the election and his legal team is contesting the results in several states, but he did direct agencies Monday to begin the transfer of power after weeks of pressure, not only from Democrats, but from a growing number of Republicans.
Pompeo defended the administration against claims Iran is even closer to a nuclear weapon now than when Trump took office, saying the Obama White House was "funneling tens of billions of dollars into that country, creating wealth and prosperity."
The real tools of creating a nuclear weapon are capacity, smart people, money: "Those are the things that help you build out a nuclear weapons program," he told Baier.
Trump, on the other hand, has denied the country money through isolation.
"We've saved lots of lives, lots of American lives," he said. "We have to have fewer soldiers in the Middle East today because of the actions we have taken. I am confident that that's the right policy. Appeasing terrorists, appeasing those who have hegemonic desires, appeasing those who are underwriting militias all throughout the region and destabilizing the Middle East, cannot possibly be the right course of action."
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