Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaves Friday for a Near East trip that is focused on religious issues and the Trump administration’s diplomatic accomplishments with Israel, but burdened by the election defeat that neither Mr. Pompeo nor his boss has acknowledged.
In Turkey, one of the seven countries the top diplomat is set to visit, Mr. Pompeo has three religious events scheduled in Istanbul but won’t meet with any Turkish government officials, senior State Department officials told reporters on a call Friday.
In Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Pompeo is expected to celebrate deals brokered by the Trump administration for three Arab League countries—including the UAE—to normalize their relations with Israel. In a first for a secretary of state, Mr. Pompeo is also set to visit the disputed territories of Golan Heights and an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, in addition to a Christian baptism site on the Jordan River, according to a report in Axios that U.S. officials declined to confirm or deny.
The Trump administration has raised tensions with some traditional U.S. allies, but it has sought to bolster relationships with Middle East partners as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. Mr. Pompeo is also planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Georgia and France, officials said.
Mr. Pompeo’s tour comes at a diplomatically awkward time since the governments of the countries he is visiting have congratulated Democrat Joe Biden as the future president. So far, President Trump has declined to concede the election to Mr. Biden, and on Tuesday Mr. Pompeo told reporters he was preparing for a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”