As President Trump remains hospitalized with Covid-19, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will cut short a trip to Asia this week, canceling stops in South Korea and Mongolia but continuing with a visit to Japan.
From Sunday through Tuesday he will be in Tokyo, where he will participate in a meeting of foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan to discuss the pandemic and other issues.
“Secretary Pompeo expects to be traveling to Asia again in October and will work to reschedule visits on that trip, that is now just a few weeks off,” a State Department spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, said in a brief written statement Saturday. She did not specify why the schedule had been changed.
Mr. Pompeo earlier alluded to the possibility of curtailing his Asia visit because of the novel coronavirus infections in the president’s circle.
“If we can’t — if have to postpone a trip or cancel something, we’ll figure out how to get it back on the schedule,” he told reporters on Friday. “But I’m hopeful we can at least make sure we get to Asia for sure — some important things, but we’ll see. If the medical situation doesn’t permit it, we won’t do that. We won’t put anybody at risk.”
Mr. Pompeo said that he had tested negative on Friday and had last met with Mr. Trump on Sept. 15.
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