Mike Pompeo has been sworn is as US secretary of state after winning a vote in the Senate.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito swore Mr Pompeo in on Thursday afternoon at the Supreme Court.
From there, Mr Pompeo was going to Andrews Air Force Base, where an aircraft was waiting to whisk him to Europe for his first trip in the role.
Mr Pompeo is expected to travel to Brussels before heading on to the Middle East.
His nomination was confirmed by the Senate earlier on Thursday on a 57-42 vote. It was one of the slimmest margins for the job in recent history.
President Donald Trump applauded the confirmation of his former CIA director as secretary of state, calling him a “patriot”.
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