HUMAN RIGHTS/MIKE POMPEO/RELIGION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will host a gathering of mostly ‘like-minded’ foreign counterparts later this summer to brainstorm ways to advance the cause of religious freedom around the world. The event, slated for July 25-26 in Washington, will likely please evangelical Christians who support President Donald Trump, many of whom worry about the persecution of Christians abroad. But it also raises questions about the Republican administration’s sincerity on the issue, given the president’s campaign pledge to bar Muslims from U.S. soil. Pompeo announced plans for the gathering on Tuesday [5-29-18] as he unveiled the State Department’s annual report on global religious freedom. He described the ministerial meeting as the first of its kind…The meeting will be Pompeo’s first time hosting a ministerial get-together. Along with foreign ministers, religious leaders, religious rights activists and civil society figures will also be invited…Brownback and Pompeo both used the term ‘like-minded’ when describing the expected participants, indicating that most countries known for their abuses of religious rights won’t get an invitation. Brownback added that countries working toward greater religious freedom may also be invited.”
-Nahal Toosi, “Pompeo to gather ‘like-minded’ allies on religious freedom,” Politico, May 29, 2018 11:21 am