At the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City yesterday, President Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised President Trump’s role in the Gaza ceasefire — “I commend President Trump and his team for bringing us to this moment” — and led a round of applause for the sitting POTUS.
Note: Earlier this month, Blinken said of Trump’s Gaza plan: “This is essentially the plan that developed over many months and more or less (was) left in a drawer for the incoming administration, and I’m very, very glad they picked it up.”
Blinken’s predecessor, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, spoke after Blinken at the venerable Catholic Charities event.
Pompeo took aim at his former boss’s affection for money and attention, saying: “In President Trump’s absence…with this many cameras and so much money here I half expect him to come crashing through the door like the Kool-Man dancing to YMCA. Indeed, I’ve got security looking out to make sure he doesn’t while I’m speaking.”
At the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Antony Blinken praised Trump’s role in the Gaza ceasefire as Mike Pompeo added sharp humor, reflecting on their contrasting tenures and the challenges of Middle East peace pic.twitter.com/9OlZ9YWKqn
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 17, 2025
On social media, after the fundraiser, Pompeo wrote: “I had a blast testing my comedy chops at the annual Al Smith Dinner last night. @CardinalDolan certainly knows how to throw a party! It was truly a privilege to pay tribute to the extraordinary charitable work of the Archdiocese of New York and honoree Bob Kraft.”
I had a blast testing my comedy chops at the annual Al Smith Dinner last night – @CardinalDolan certainly knows how to throw a party!
It was truly a privilege to pay tribute to the extraordinary charitable work of the Archdiocese of New York and honoree Bob Kraft. pic.twitter.com/1oWLL9vwUs
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) October 17, 2025
On the serious subject of Trump’s Gaza plan, Pompeo wrote an op-ed for ACLJ this week about “this joyous and historic moment” and the need to be “clear-eyed about the challenges ahead.” (ACLJ, the American Center for Law & Justice, is a politically conservative, Christian-based legal organization in the U.S. co-founded by televangelist Pat Robertson.)