--- title: Mike Pompeo Confirms He Was on Trump's Ukraine Call description: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed he was on the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference... canonical: https://time.com/5690799/mike-pompeo-trump-impeachment-ukraine-call/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-02T12:14:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:28:44.077Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'I Was On the Call.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Confirms He Was on Trump's Call With Ukrainian President og:description: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed he was on the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference... og:url: https://time.com/5690799/mike-pompeo-trump-impeachment-ukraine-call/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf40eae145535e8f/698a03b3656a3fb2b8bd9012/mike-pompeo-ukraine-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4844 og:image:height: 2725 og:image:alt: Italy United States Pompeo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'I Was On the Call.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Confirms He Was on Trump's Call With Ukrainian President twitter:description: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed he was on the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf40eae145535e8f/698a03b3656a3fb2b8bd9012/mike-pompeo-ukraine-call.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I Was On the Call.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Confirms He Was on Trump's Call With Ukrainian President > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 2, 2019 12:14 PM UTC  U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo speaks after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo speaks after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. Andrew Medichini—AP by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Oct 2, 2019 12:14 PM UTC Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed he was on the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a news conference in Rome on Wednesday. “I was on the phone call,” Pompeo said during a joint news conference with Italy’s foreign minister Luigi Di Maio. The [July 25 phone call](https://time.com/5685947/trump-ukraine-call/) between the two leaders has become the center of an [impeachment inquiry](https://time.com/5685325/impeachment-inquiry-donald-trump-democrats/) by the House, after a whistleblower filed a complaint in August about the conversation. The [complaint](https://time.com/5687640/read-trump-whistleblower-complaint/) alleged that Trump tried to “solicit interference” by Ukraine when he asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine in the phone call. Trump has confirmed that he spoke with Zelensky about Biden, but has denied any wrongdoing. Trump has been criticized for withholding nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine before asking Zelensky to help investigate Biden, with some leaders in Congress saying the [move was a blackmail attempt](https://time.com/5686788/ukraine-no-connection-aid-biden/). As one of the Democratic frontrunners in the presidential race, Biden is shaping to be a political rival for Trump in 2020. Pompeo’s confirmation comes just days after the _Wall Street Journal_ [reported](https://www.wsj.com/articles/pompeo-took-part-in-ukraine-call-official-says-11569865002?mod=hp%5Flead%5Fpos2) that he was on Trump’s phone call and more than a week after he evaded the question of his involvement in an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz. In a [Sept. 22 interview](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-22-19-secretary-mike-pompeo-gen/story?id=65778332), Raddatz asked Pompeo: “What do you know about those conversations?” He answered, “So, you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistle-blower complaint, none of which I’ve seen,” avoiding her question before continuing to talk about the Trump administration’s policies toward Ukraine. Pompeo did not elaborate much on the nature of the phone call during Wednesday’s news conference. He said the U.S. policy with Ukraine was “about helping Ukrainians get graft out and corruption out.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5690799/mike-pompeo-trump-impeachment-ukraine-call/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5690799/mike-pompeo-trump-impeachment-ukraine-call/"},"headline":"'I Was On the Call.' 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