Mike Pompeo, who served as President Donald Trump‘s U.S. Secretary of State and Director of the CIA during his first term in the White House, is criticizing world leaders including the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom (Keir Starmer), Australia (Anthony Albanese) and Canada (Mark Carney) for recognizing a Palestinian state.
With a link to an article in The Wall Street Journal about the “historical shift”, Pompeo wrote: “Rewarding the aggressor in the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust with the ultimate prize sends the message to bad actors everywhere that terrorism gets results.”
Pompeo’s criticism echoes President Trump’s opposition to recognizing a Palestinian state, arguing that it would reward Hamas and harm efforts to reach a peace agreement with Israel.
Rewarding the aggressor in the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust with the ultimate prize sends the message to bad actors everywhere that terrorism gets results.https://t.co/JKvYbBM0kf
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) September 22, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated in a briefing on Monday that Trump believes recognizing a Palestinian state “does nothing” to end the war in Gaza. She added: “So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies.”
Today at the United Nations General Assembly, when President Emmanuel Macron said France also recognizes a Palestinian state and called for Israel to end the war in Gaza, his announcement drew applause and a standing ovation from some of the attendees. (Out of 193 U.N. member states, at least 147 now recognize the state of Palestine.)
Note: Pompeo co-wrote an op-ed on Monday titled “Recognition of a Palestinian state will only perpetuate a cycle of violence” which was published in the Italian newspaper Le Figaro.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has yet to recognize the state of Palestine. Meloni said at the U.N. today that Italy will only recognize a Palestinian state when all Israeli hostages are released and the Hamas militant group is excluded from any government role.