UNITED STATES.- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday extolled the “essential rightness”of the United States in global affairs as he urged demoralized U.S. diplomats to act firmly and aggressively as they promote and carry out the Trump administration’s foreign policies.

In a pep talk to State Department employees, Pompeo explained that his repeated calls for the agency to regain its “swagger” meant that diplomats should act with confidence, knowing that the U.S. cause is just. The State Department released excerpts of his prepared remarks, which were delivered at an internal town hall event.

“Swagger is not arrogance; it is not boastfulness, it is not ego,” Pompeo said, according to the excerpts. “No, swagger is confidene; in one’s self, in one’s ideas. In our case, it is America’s essential rightness. And it is aggressiveness born of the righteous knowledge that our cause is just, special, and built upon America’s core principles.”

“Our task is to preserve our civilization of human dignity, individual liberty, democracy, national sovereignty, and the rule of law, and to challenge anyone seeking to take it down,” he said.