Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream and spoke about President Donald Trump’s recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bream began by confronting Pompeo with allegations made by lawmakers that Russia must “have something” on the president based on his behavior at Monday’s press conference, something Pompeo called “absurd.”

“This administration has been relentless in its effort to deter Russia from its bad behavior,” Pompeo said. “We inherited a situation where Russia was running all over the United States. The last few days have been frankly, more heat than light. This administration has been strong in supporting the Ukrainians, strong and making sure that we protect them against Russian expansion in other parts of the world. We all recognize that threat is real. And President Trump has been strong in protecting America from Russian aggression.”

The former CIA Director insisted that Trump “understands” that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and that they have been meddling our democracy “for a long time.”

“He has empowered each of us to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the 2018 or the 2020 elections here in the United States as well,” Pompeo told Bream.

He expressed that he has “great confidence” that Russia will continue to “try to undermine western democracy.” He also dismissed the Russian ambassador’s claim that Trump and Putin made “important verbal agreements” in their one-on-one meeting, saying they “like to tell stories.”

Before moving on, Pompeo defended the president over claims made by critics that he’s in over his head.

“The president has been very resolute. He understands precisely who it is we are dealing with in Russia,” Pompeo said. “He gets it. He’s trying to take opportunities- places where we can work together and put America in a position to do the things he wants to do on behalf of the American people.”

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.

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