Videos of the Day: Pompeo’s European Tour Aimed at Reassuring Allies

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Hungary on the first leg of a five-nation European tour aimed at strengthening bilateral ties with U.S. allies.

Pompeo met with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the country’s other senior officials in Budapest on Feb. 11 to stress the importance of promoting democracy and the rule of law.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto before a plenary session in Budapest, Hungary, February 11, 2019. Reuters/Tamas Kaszas

In an impromptu news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, when asked by reporters “what exactly is it that you want [the Hungarian government] to do or not do on Huawei,” Pompeo replied, “They get to make their own decisions with respect to these things.”

“What’s imperative is that we share with them the things we know about the risks that Huawei’s presence in their networks presents: actual risks to their own people, to the loss of privacy protections for their own people, the risk that China will use this data in a way that is not the best interest of Hungary.

“We have an obligation to share that information with them, and we will do so.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a plenary session in Budapest, Hungary, February 11, 2019. Reuters/Tamas Kaszas

Pompeo added, “We’ve seen this around the world, it also makes it more difficult for America to be present; that is, if that equipment is co-located in places where we have important American systems, it makes it more difficult for us to partner alongside them.

“We want to make sure we identify the opportunities and the risks associated with using that equipment and then they’ll get to make their decisions.”

Pompeo will take the same message to his next stop, Slovakia, on Feb. 12, before heading to Poland. And he will wrap up the tour with brief stops in Belgium and Iceland.

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New Survey: Trump Approval Hits 23-Month High

A survey has reported President Trump’s approval ratings are at their “highest level” since shortly after his inauguration in January 2017.

Rasmussen Reports, which carried out the daily tracking poll, showed Trump’s approval rating according to their data has hit 52 percent.

According to Rasmussen, former President Barack Obama’s approval rating on Feb. 11, 2011, was at 50 percent.

US President Donald Trump boards Marine One upon departure from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on February 8, 2019.Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

“The latest figures include 39 percent who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing and 39 percent who Strongly Disapprove,” said Rasmussen.

It comes a week after Trump made his landmark State of the Union address, which addressed a number of topics, including the trend of socialism in the United States and comments on abortion. Right after his address, Trump’s approval rating rose by several points.

President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address, with Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 5, 2019. Doug Mills/The New York Times/Pool

Some 47 percent of respondents disapprove of the job Trump is doing, according to the poll.

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US Border Patrol Rescues Baby from Freezing River

Border patrol vessel pulling up on Mexican side of border with migrants that were rescued after trying to swim the Rio Grande to U.S. side, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. Feb. 10, 2019 image via Reuters

A Salvadoran family was rescued from the freezing Rio Grande border river between Mexico and the United States late on Sunday night, Feb. 10, before they were returned back south of the border, according to local reports.

The family of seven included two babies and two minors. They unsuccessfully tried to swim across the river from Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas.

Paramedics holding baby rescued from Rio Grande river. Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, Feb. 10, 2019 image via Reuters

Security has been tight on this stretch of the border with border patrol agents making their presence known as some 2,000 Central American migrants wait to process paperwork at a temporary migrant shelter on the Mexican side of the border.

President Donald Trump has not changed his stance on immigration, specifically against the caravan of migrants. And a new policy requires migrants who seek asylum to wait in Mexico whilst the claim is heard.