WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will cut short his upcoming Asia trip, the State Department announced, amid President Donald Trump’s hospitalisation following his Covid-19 diagnosis.
The top US diplomat was expected to visit Japan, Mongolia and South Korea, but according to the Department’s announcement on Saturday, he has canceled the Mongolia and South Korea legs of the trip, reports CNN.
The announcement by Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo would work to reschedule those countries on another Asia trip later this month.
Pompeo will depart for Tokyo on Sunday as originally scheduled.
The development came after Pompeo called off a trip to Florida address a conservative Christian organization on Saturday evening, saying he had done so “out of an abundance of caution”.
Pompeo said he told Vice President Mike Pence that “everything’s in good order”.
“You should know that I’m feeling fine, I’m doing great, I’ve been tested twice in two days, I’m as healthy as I’ve been and I intend still to have a trip that I’m planning to take to Asia tomorrow,” CNN quoted the Secretary of State as saying on Saturday.
Following Trump’s October 2 announcement that he and First Lady were infected with the virus, Pompeo said that he had not interacted with the President since the signing of an agreement between the US, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at the White House on September 15.
Pompeo and his wife were tested after Trump’s announcement, but the couple tested negative.
This was the fourth time that the Secretary of State had been tested in the last two and a half weeks, the CNN reported.

Press Trust of India