Pompeo shortens upcoming Asia trip after Trump falls ill with Covid-19

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will depart for Japan today but will not go to Mongolia and South Korea as originally planned, the State Department has said, after President Donald Trump was diagnosed and hospitalised due to the coronavirus.

Initially, Pompeo planned to visit all three countries between Oct 4 and Oct 8. He is still set to leave for Tokyo but will be returning to Washington on Oct 6 after consultations with his Japanese counterparts and attending a wider meeting with foreign ministers of India and Australia.

In a speech delivered virtually earlier to the Florida Family Policy Council, Pompeo said he was in good health but that he cancelled his in-person appearance at the event “out of an abundance of caution”. He said he still planned to go to Asia.

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