Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo served as CIA Director (2017-18) and then US Secretary of State (2018-21) under Donald Trump's first term, becoming one of the most influential figures in Republican Foreign Policy. A West Point graduate and former Kansas congressman, he championed maximum-pressure sanctions on Iran and withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, closely aligning with hawkish positions on Russia, China, and North Korea.

The sanctions enforcement infrastructure Pompeo helped build has since been dismantled by Trump's second administration. Pam Bondi disbanded Task Force KleptoCapture in February 2026, the unit that had seized Russian oligarch assets and prosecuted sanctions evasion under frameworks Pompeo's State Department supported, while Treasury compliance hiring was frozen and waivers issued on 124 million barrels of Russian oil.

Pompeo is a prospective 2028 Republican presidential contender whose hawkish Russia and Iran record now sits in uncomfortable tension with the administration he once served. The rollback of sanctions architecture he championed raises a pointed question: can a figure who built maximum-pressure Foreign Policy credibly run against its dismantlement?