Texas National Security Forum - Keynote Address: The Honorable Michael Pompeo 2017

In August 2017, Pompeo took direct command of the Counterintelligence Mission Center, the department which had helped to launch an investigation into possible links between Trump associates and Russian officials.[60] Former CIA officials, including John Sipher, expressed concern given Pompeo's proximity to the White House and Donald Trump.[61]

In September 2017, Pompeo sought authority for the CIA to make covert drone strikes without the Pentagon's involvement, including inside Afghanistan.[62] During Easter weekend 2018, Pompeo visited North Korea and met with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un to discuss the upcoming 2018 North Korea–United States summit between Kim and Trump.[63]

Pompeo usually personally delivered the president's daily brief in the Oval Office.[64] At Trump's request, Pompeo met with former NSA official William E. Binney to discuss his doubts of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[65]

At the suggestion of Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, Pompeo planned to hire chaplains at the CIA.[65] In an April 2019 speech at Texas A&M University, Pompeo said "I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses . . . it reminds you of the glory of the American experiment."[66]