Narrator: In March 2018, a nondescript American plane entered North Korean airspace. Onboard was Mike Pompeo, then Director of the CIA, on a clandestine mission to meet with one of the world’s most reclusive and dangerous dictators, Kim Jong Un. The goal was to lay the groundwork for a historic presidential summit and address North Korea's nuclear threat. Upon meeting, Kim joked, "Mr. Director, I didn't think you'd show up. I know you've been trying to kill me." Without missing a beat, Pompeo replied, "Mr. Chairman, I’m still trying to kill you." This tense, audacious exchange captures the essence of a foreign policy doctrine built on confronting adversaries head-on.

In his memoir, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, Mike Pompeo offers an unapologetic, insider account of the Trump administration's approach to global affairs. The book argues that in a hostile world, American interests are best protected not by appeasement or multilateral consensus, but by a clear-eyed realism, a willingness to take calculated risks, and an unwavering projection of strength.

Narrator: Pompeo’s foreign policy philosophy is rooted in a deeply held belief that the world is an inherently dangerous place. This view was not just theoretical; it was forged by personal experience. In 1983, as a young cadet at West Point, news of the Beirut barracks bombing ripped through the academy. A suicide bomber from an early incarnation of Hezbollah had killed 241 American service members. For Pompeo and his classmates, this was a formative moment. The victims were their peers, young men who had made the ultimate sacrifice in a world that seemed determined to do America harm.

This understanding was reinforced during his time as a young Army officer in West Germany, patrolling the Iron Curtain and facing the constant threat of a Soviet invasion. These experiences instilled a core lesson: adversaries are not to be trifled with, and weakness is an invitation for aggression. This principle, which he shared with President Trump, became the foundation of their administration's foreign policy. It rejected the idea that diplomacy could smooth over fundamental ideological conflicts, arguing instead that leaders must operate with a realistic assessment of threats and be prepared to defend American interests relentlessly.

Narrator: A central tenet of the Trump administration's strategy was to rapidly pivot away from what they viewed as the failed policies of the past, particularly the Obama administration's approach to Iran. Pompeo argues that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) was a catastrophic failure that enriched a terrorist regime without permanently halting its nuclear ambitions. Instead of continuing a policy of appeasement, the administration chose to go on offense.

This shift was most dramatically demonstrated by the decision to eliminate Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Iran's Quds Force. For years, Soleimani had orchestrated attacks on American troops and interests across the Middle East with relative impunity. In late 2019, following an attack that killed an American contractor and the storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Pompeo, along with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew to Mar-a-Lago to present President Trump with a plan. They argued that deterrence was failing and that a decisive action was needed to restore it. Trump approved the strike, and on January 3, 2020, Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone in Baghdad. For the administration, this was not an act of escalation but a necessary action to re-establish deterrence and signal that attacks on Americans would no longer be tolerated.

Narrator: The "America First" doctrine was, at its core, a commitment to negotiating deals that directly benefited the United States, breaking from what Pompeo describes as a history of agreements that compromised American sovereignty and prosperity. This principle was vividly illustrated in the high-stakes negotiations to free American hostages. In May 2018, on his second trip to Pyongyang, Pompeo’s primary mission was to secure the release of three American citizens.

During a private meeting, he told Kim Jong Un directly that President Trump expected the three men to return with him on his plane. After some initial resistance from Kim, the hostages were delivered to the airport and boarded the American aircraft. They were freed without any ransom paid or concessions made. This success reinforced the administration's belief that America did not have to accept bad deals to achieve its objectives. It was a demonstration of using leverage and resolve to protect American citizens and advance national interests without compromise. This same hard-nosed approach was applied to border security, where the administration negotiated the "Remain in Mexico" policy by threatening tariffs, forcing a change in incentives to curb illegal immigration.

Narrator: The book argues that the single greatest external threat to the United States is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Pompeo details a fundamental policy shift away from decades of engagement, which he contends failed to produce a more open China and instead funded the growth of America's primary rival. The administration recognized the CCP as a "revisionist power" intent on achieving global hegemony.

To counter this, the administration moved on multiple fronts. One of the most significant actions was the launch of the Clean Network initiative, a campaign to persuade allies to exclude untrustworthy vendors like Huawei from their 5G networks. This effort crippled Huawei’s global business and protected sensitive data from the CCP. The administration also took direct action against Chinese espionage. In July 2020, the U.S. ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, which Pompeo describes as a central hub for spying and intellectual property theft. Though China retaliated by closing a U.S. consulate, the move was a major victory, disrupting a massive intelligence-gathering operation on American soil and signaling a new era of accountability for the CCP.

Narrator: Pompeo asserts that true leadership requires the resilience to withstand constant criticism, or "incoming," from political opponents, the media, and even internal dissenters. He argues that any leader who challenges the status quo will inevitably become a target. He recounts numerous instances of what he perceived as unfair media attacks and political opposition, designed to undermine the administration's agenda.

A particularly telling anecdote occurred at the 2019 Kennedy Center Honors dinner, an event typically attended by the progressive-leaning arts and entertainment elite. During his remarks as host, Pompeo made a lighthearted reference to singer and honoree Linda Ronstadt. When Ronstadt took the stage, she looked directly at Pompeo and publicly rebuked him for his work in the Trump administration. While the media celebrated it as a "delicious takedown," Pompeo viewed it as a reminder that leaders must remain focused on their mission and not be deterred by personal attacks. For him, enduring such criticism was simply part of the job of defending American principles in a world, and a domestic political environment, that is often hostile to them.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Never Give an Inch is that American foreign policy, in the view of the Trump administration, had drifted from its core purpose: to secure the freedom and prosperity of the American people. The book is a forceful argument for returning to a policy of realism and strength, where national interest is the only guiding star and American sovereignty is non-negotiable. It posits that in a world of determined adversaries, projecting power and defending clear, hard lines is not a path to conflict, but the surest path to peace.

Ultimately, the book challenges a fundamental assumption of modern diplomacy: that multilateralism and international consensus are inherent goods. Pompeo’s account forces a difficult question: Is the primary goal of foreign policy to be a popular member of the international community, or is it to be the unapologetic defender of one's own nation? The legacy of this disruptive, strength-first approach remains a subject of intense debate, but its core premise—to never give an inch in the fight for America—is a call to action that continues to resonate.