'Maybe his wife isn't there': Trump dismisses probe into Pompeo using government employees for washing dishes and walking dog

Donald Trump suggested on Monday that he would rather have Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the phone negotiating with world leaders than worrying about household chores, something a government staffer could do for him if his wife and kids are around to chip in.

Using government employees for personal errands is illegal.

The president made the comment in response to a question from a reporter about Mr Pompeo encouraging the president to fire the State Department inspector general, who was investigating Mr Pompeo for using government staff for personal chores and other matters.

"Now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes, and, you know what, I'd rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there or his kids aren't there, you know?" Mr Trump said.

Perhaps Mr Pompeo was "busy" when his dog needed walking, Mr Trump speculated.

"Maybe he's negotiating with Kim Jong Un, OK, about nuclear weapons. So that he'd say, 'Please, could you walk my dog? Do you mind walking my dog? I'm talking to Kim Jong Un.' Or, 'I'm talking to President Xi [Jinping] about paying us for some of the damage they've caused to the world and to us, please walk my dog.' To who, a Secret Service person or somebody, right?" Mr Trump said.

The president fired the inspector general, Steve Linick, late on Friday night and replaced him with Stephen Akard, a former foreign affairs adviser to Vice President Mike Pence when Mr Pence was governor of Indiana.

Mr Trump said on Monday that he didn't "know anything about" Mr Linick's ongoing investigation into Mr Pompeo.

He also appeared to question the seriousness of the accusations.

"You mean he's under investigation because he had somebody walk his dog from the government?" Mr Trump said.

"I don't know, doesn't sound — I don't think it sounds, like, that important," he said.

Mr Linick is one in a string of recent high-profile inspector general firings by Mr Trump.

The president has also removed inspectors general from the intelligence community, the Health and Human Services Department, and the Defence Department, whose IG at the time was slated to assess the government's coronavirus response. On Monday, the president questioned the need for department-specific inspectors general, which are in place to ensure top officials do not abuse their power or break the law.

House Democrats are keen to investigate Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo for the firing of Mr Linick as he was preparing a report of his findings on Mr Pompeo's use of government staff for personal errands.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Mr Trump on Monday asking him to provide Congress a reason why he had lost confidence in Mr Linick, which the president is required to do by law.

"This removal is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity of the inspectors general and, therefore, our government," Ms Pelosi wrote.

"It is alarming to see news reports that your action may have been in response to Inspector General Linick nearing completion of an investigation into the approval of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia," she wrote.

For his part, Mr Trump on Monday said the United States should enter into contracts with other countries for American-made weapon systems as soon as such nations express interest because those deals create jobs at home. Mr Trump brushed off a reporter's question about whether Mr Pompeo was right if he skirted or ignored congressional restrictions on arms sales to the kingdom over legislators' worries that US-made weapons were being used by Saudi leaders in ways that failed to take into account civilians in Yemen as the kingdom battles Iranian-backed proxy forces there.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel has launched an investigation into Mr Linick's firing, demanding that the White House and State Department turn over all documents related to the personnel decision by 22 May.

The administration is not expected to willingly hand over all the requested documents.