Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un: report

CIA Director Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoNorth Korea slams US for lacking ‘basic decorum’ in nuke talks North, South Korea to discuss plans for leaders' next summit Dems want GOP chairman to subpoena State Department over cyber docs MORE flew to North Korea earlier this year and met with the nation’s leader Kim Jong Un, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The shocking, top-secret trip took place during Easter weekend ahead of a possible summit between President TrumpDonald John TrumpKobach agrees to recuse himself from vote counting in Kansas GOP primary NFL players kneel during national anthem before first preseason game Schiff blasts GOP for Russia probe conduct: 'That's how you obstruct an investigation, not how you conduct one' MORE and Kim later this year to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The CIA, White House and North Korean government all refused to comment to the Post, which confirmed the meeting with two sources with direct knowledge of it.

Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. had direct talks with North Korea at "very high levels" but did not provide more details.

“We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea,” the president said. “I really believe there’s a lot of goodwill. We’ll see what happens, as I always say. Because ultimately it’s the end result that counts.”

He added that the meeting with Kim could take place “probably in early June or before that,” but cautioned it is hardly guaranteed, based on Kim’s actions.

Pompeo's trip would represent the highest-level meeting between Pyongyang and Washington since 2000.

Trump has nominated Pompeo as his next secretary of State, though multiple Democratic senators have expressed reticence amid his confirmation process.

The nominee said during his confirmation hearings before the Senate that he is "not advocating for regime change" in North Korea, after he made comments last year suggesting he was in favor of removing the country's leadership.

“Just to be clear, my role as a diplomat is to make sure that we never get to a place where we have to confront the difficult situation in Korea that this country has been head for now for a couple of decades,” Pompeo said.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Pompeo had taken a lead role in preparing for the historic meeting between Trump and Kim, which would be the first between a sitting U.S. president and the leader of North Korea.