Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered a curt response to a question about whether President Trump's impeachment makes him appear vulnerable on the world stage.

"You should ask Mr. Soleimani," Pompeo answered Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace this weekend.

"I understand that," Wallace said before asking again if Trump could be seen as weak by foreign nations as a result of Democrats seeking to remove him from office.

"I don't," Pompeo said. "Our adversaries understand that President Trump and our administration will do the right thing to protect the American people every place that we find risk."

House Democrats passed two articles of impeachment against Trump late last year: one for abuse of power and another for obstruction of Congress. A trial in the Republican-led Senate is expected in the coming weeks.

Trump's impeachment centers on his relations with Ukraine and a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump asked Zelensky to "do us a favor" and investigate corruption allegations against 2020 Democratic front-runner Joe Biden and his son's business dealings in the country. Crucial military aid to Ukraine, which is fighting off Russian aggression in the region, was temporarily held up.

Since impeachment passed in the House, Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani after the U.S. government received what Trump described as "very major" and credible intelligence that Soleimani was plotting to kill American diplomats and military personnel in the Middle East. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Soleimani led, has been designated an official terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

Pompeo said Sunday that American intelligence and military officials deemed there was "a great risk" to American lives if the United States did not take Soleimani out.

Trump has said he did not kill Soleimani to "start a war" but to avoid one. He has previously railed against "endless wars" in the Middle East, which were started by previous administrations.

"Endless wars are the direct result of weakness," Pompeo said. "President Trump will never let that happen."

Iran has vowed to take revenge for the attack, with a lawmaker even threatening to attack the White House directly.

Pompeo said the U.S. government is ready to defend itself from a potential retaliation for Soleimani's killing and would provide a "proportionate" response to any act of vengeance from the Iranians.

