Secretary of State Mike Pompeo falsely insisted on Sunday that Donald Trump has never declared that North Korea is not a nuclear threat.
During an interview on CNN's State of the Union, host Jake Tapper noted that Trump had tweeted that he no longer believes North Korea is a nuclear threat.
"Does he still believe there's no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea, even though [CIA Director] Gina Haspel says North Korea is committed to creating a missile that could strike the United States?" Tapper asked.
But Pompeo declined to give a direct answer. So Tapper pressed.
"Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?" the CNN host wondered.
"Yes," Pompeo replied.
"But the president said he doesn't," Tapper pointed out.
"That's not what he said. I know precisely..." Pompeo insisted before being cut off by the host.
"He tweeted there is no longer a nuclear threat from north Korea," Tapper said.
"What he said was the efforts made in Singapore, this commitment have substantially taken down the risk to the American people," Pompeo replied. "It's the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that."
"That's just a direct quote," Tapper deadpanned, "but I want to move on."
