Mike Pompeo arrives in Paris at the start of an awkward seven-country tour

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Paris

Credit: REUTERS

Mike Pompeo, America’s top diplomat, arrived in Paris on Saturday on the first leg of a tricky seven-country tour which will see him try to reassure nations troubled by Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the election result, without angering his boss.

The US Secretary of State will, over the next ten days, speak to senior officials in France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

World leaders — among them the rulers of France, Israel, and Saudi Arabia — have already congratulated Joe Biden, the president-elect.

Yet Mr Trump is still defiantly clinging on to claims that the election was stolen from him, made without evidence.

Mr Pompeo, with one eye on making a run for the White House himself in 2024, has also refused to accept Mr Trump’s loss, saying on Tuesday that there would be a "smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

Mike Pompeo was in Jerusalem in August, speaking to the RNC via live link

Mr Pompeo later clarified his comments in an interview later on Tuesday. "Our adversaries should know that we’re ready, we’re continuing to work, we’ll work all the way through January," he said. 

"And then on January 20th, we’ll have a transition, whether it’s to a Trump administration — a second Trump administration as I spoke about today — or to an administration led by former Vice President Biden."

Mr Biden is trying to press ahead with his preparations to take over the White House, despite the General Services Admission, which officially authorises the release of $9.9 million to the incoming administration, refusing to sign off on the transition.

Boris Johnson, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, France’s Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others have all spoken to Mr Biden without the help of formal state department procedures.

Justin Trudeau, pictured with Joe Biden in December 2016, has already spoken to the president-elect

Mr Pompeo’s trip is aimed at shoring-up the priorities of the outgoing administration. 

It will include visits to Israeli settlements in the West Bank that have been avoided by previous secretaries of state.

On Saturday Mr Pompeo was due to meet members of civil society, academia and the private sector.

On Monday he will meet Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, who on Friday noted the “difficult subjects” on the table, such as Iraq and Iran, terrorism, the Middle East and China.

"For the moment, my counterpart is Mike Pompeo, until January 20,” he said. “He’s coming to Paris. I receive him.”