Columbia University hires former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Columbia University has hired former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to teach a course on public diplomacy.

Pompeo, was the country's top diplomat in the first Trump administration, in which he also served as CIA director. He will teach for one year at Columbia's Institute of Global Politics, which is part of the Ivy League college's School of International and Public Affairs. 

Columbia, like many elite schools, faces pressure from  alumni, donors and President Trump to show an openness to conservative ideas and debate and to strongly defend Jewish students at the New York City school from antisemitic harassment, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Columbia said there was no political pressure to hire Pompeo, according to The New York Post. 

Pompeo will be a  Carnegie Distinguished Fellow and his course will run from March 1 to February 2026, according to the Washington Free Beacon. 

"I am thrilled to join the Institute and to provide a unique voice defending traditional American values and the Founders’ vision for our great nation, alongside the necessity to support our allies across the world," Pompeo said.