Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday rejected the idea that President Trump showed weakness at his summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite complaints from Democrats and some Republicans that he failed to send a tough message to Putin about election meddling.

“I think those allegations are absurd," Pompeo said during an interview with "Fox News @ Night" when asked about bipartisan complaints about the meeting.

"This administration has been relentless in its efforts to deter Russia from its bad behavior," he continued. "We inherited a situation where Russia was running all over the United States. These last few days have been, frankly, more heat than light.”

[Nancy Pelosi: Trump was 'afraid' to mention Russian indictments to Putin]

Trump has faced backlash over remarks he made on Monday at the conclusion of his talks with Putin, in which he said Putin's denials over Kremlin-linked election interference in 2016 were "extremely strong and powerful." His comments were widely criticized for seeming to undermine U.S. intelligence community assessments, which have found Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign through a series of hacks and disinformation operations.

On Tuesday, Trump clarified that he does accept the consensus of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.

Pompeo on Thursday also expressed optimism regarding his negotiations with North Korea about denuclearization following Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore.