FOREIGN POLICY/MIKE POMPEO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Mary Kissel often took a dim view of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. As a Wall Street Journal editorial writer, she tweeted about his ‘frightening ignorance,’ criticized his approach on Syria and China, and said Putin ‘scored a great propaganda victory’ at the Helsinki summit in July. And Trump swatted back. After Kissel said in a March 2016 appearance on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that Trump has ‘no principles, he has no policies,’ the president counter punched on Twitter. ‘Major loser!’ then-candidate Trump wrote, adding that Kissel had ‘no clue!’ Now, Kissel is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s new senior adviser for policy and strategic messaging…While other foreign policy experts have found themselves blacklisted for trashing Trump, Kissel is Pompeo’s second recent hire who has done so: In August, he appointed Jim Jeffrey — who joined dozens of GOP foreign policy insiders in signing a letter denouncing Trump — as special representative for Syria engagement.”
–Alex Thompson and Eliana Johnson, “Trump trashed new Pompeo aide as ‘major loser’,” Politico, November 27, 2018 8:29 am