Tag: marco rubio

Rubio Mocks Screeching Democrat Rep. as She Storms Out of Hearing

Democrats spent Wednesday morning shouting at Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a hearing over the State Department’s budget.

Marco Rubio’s testimony to the House committee on Wednesday comes just one day after he had back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Rubio testified before the House Foreign Relations Committee about the Trump Administration’s 2027 budget.

Democrat Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove shouted at Rubio about his role in shutting down USAID abuses.

“And giving contracts with no transparency is exactly the reason why you shut down USAID! So practice what you preach!” Rep. Kamlager-Dove shouted.

“Can I answer? Oh, she gets to scream now, too?” Rubio said.

“What kind of thing is this? What is this? You get asked questions for 5 minutes, and you don’t get time to answer? It’s not a hearing! What is this?” Rubio said.

Democrat Rep. Kamlager-Dove then stormed out of the hearing.

“Why is she leaving? I’m gonna answer her questions!” Rubio said, pointing to Rep. Kamlager-Dove.

The Democrat shouted at Rubio as she stormed out.

“Well, thank you for coming,” Rubio said.

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Rubio braces for Hill grilling as Republicans join bid to curb Trump’s Iran war powers

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to face tough questions on Capitol Hill this week as Congress threatens to curb President Donald Trump’s war powers, while the administration pushes for an end to the conflict with Iran.

Rubio will testify in four congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday on the State Department’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. But the Trump official is likely to be grilled on the ongoing negotiations to end the war and whether the U.S. military campaign should continue against Iranian forces and the country’s nuclear capabilities. 

The U.S. and Iran have yet to agree on terms to end sporadic fighting. Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and potential sanctions relief have emerged as key sticking points in negotiations. 

President Donald Trump said Monday that he “couldn’t care less” if the stalled talks were over, in an interview with CNBC.

“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,” Trump told the outlet. “If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring.”

The president’s comments followed fresh rounds of fighting over the weekend that tested the fragile ceasefires in place since early April. The U.S. military has shown no signs of ending its blockade of Iranian ports while Tehran has continued to flex its hold over the Strait of Hormuz.

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Marco Rubio: The Neocons’ Golden Boy

Marco Rubio has increasingly been pushed by the neocons to become the 2028 presidential nominee, and they seemingly view him as their “golden boy” who will keep the wheels of the war machine turning. But I’m always interested in the why. Let’s take a journey.

To understand Rubio’s hawkish foreign policy, you first have to understand his background. Rubio’s parents were Cuban immigrants who fled Cuba before Fidel Castro took power, but the sting of the communist takeover still had an immense impact on his family. His grandfather played an especially significant role in shaping Rubio’s worldview. In an interview with The Washington Post, Rubio said his grandfather described “how communism destroyed lives in Cuba and how the United States had a unique role to play in the world as the enforcer of freedom.” (Marco Rubio’s Cold War). To put it simply, the idea of the United States acting as the world’s policeman was instilled in Rubio at a very young age, and that mentality has only intensified throughout his political career.

Rubio has built a reputation as one of the most consistently hawkish Republicans in modern politics. Over the years, he has backed countless U.S. interventions and aggressive foreign policy measures, including support for the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, the removal of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, economic sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party, continued aid to Ukraine, and hardline measures against Iran. That is one hell of a résumé, and it tells you everything you need to know about Rubio. In fact, he has become such a foreign policy fixture that many Americans have likely forgotten about his domestic positions altogether. Rubio represents the classic interventionist mindset, and if it were up to him, the administration would likely push even harder to fulfill its self-appointed mission of policing the world – a strategy that has repeatedly failed and consistently ended in disaster. History has not been kind to that approach.

With all of this in mind, it becomes crystal clear why Rubio is being pushed so aggressively for 2028. He will give the establishment exactly what it wants. Analysts have described Rubio as “rebooting the neocons for the MAGA era.” If Rubio seeks the Republican nomination in 2028 – which I believe he will – he will undoubtedly receive enormous backing from the war class. The shadiest PACs, the most aggressive foreign lobbying groups, and individuals with massive financial interests tied to defense contractors and global conflicts will all line up behind him. He is the neoconservative golden boy, and they will do everything possible to put him in the White House.

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Secretary Rubio on Indicted Former Cuban Dictator: ‘Raul Castro Admits and Brags About Shooting Civilian Airplanes’ 

Castro is now a fugitive from US justice, Rubio reminded us.

Yesterday, when announcing the indictment of former Cuban dictator Raul Castro for conspiracy to kill US citizens, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said that when someone kills Americans, it doesn’t matter how far they are or how much time has passed, the US will get to them.

Immediately, the speculation began: Will Donald J. Trump launch an op such as the one that captured Nicolas Maduro? Will the US invade Cuba and overthrow the Cuban dictatorship of Miguel Díaz-Canel?

So, today, as soon as the Secretary of State appeared in public, he was asked about Castro’s indictment and eventual capture.

“Reporter: How do you intend to get Raul Castro to the United States?

Rubio: Well, that was the, a grand jury in South Florida returned an indictment of Raul Castro, nothing to do with us. The grand jury, the evidence is clear, he admits to it. Raul Castro openly admits and brags about, he shot down, gave the order to shoot down civilian airplanes.

Reporter: How would you get him here?

Rubio: Well, I’m not going to talk about how we’re going to get him here. If we were trying to get him here, why would I say to the media what our plans are about that? I know you have to ask, but why would I answer that? The bottom line, he’s at that point, he becomes a fugitive of American justice. And well, if there’s an announcement of a positive, I will tell you, we’ll tell you afterwards, not before.”

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Rubio Is Sued Over Visa Bans on Foreign Censorship Supporters

A nonprofit that supports online speech restrictions is suing the Trump administration for sanctioning people who pushed platforms to delete speech. The case landed in a D.C. courtroom on Wednesday and the irony runs deep.

The Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR) wants a federal judge to block a State Department visa policy announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May 2025.

The policy allows the US to deny entry, revoke visas, or deport foreign nationals the government considers “complicit in censoring Americans.”

CITR filed for a preliminary injunction, and Chief Judge James Boasberg heard oral arguments on May 13 in Coalition for Independent Technology Research v. Rubio.

The five people sanctioned under this policy in December 2025 are not random academics. Thierry Breton helped build the EU’s Digital Services Act, which compels American tech companies to delete speech Europeans find objectionable.

Imran Ahmed runs the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has campaigned to get accounts banned from platforms.

Clare Melford runs the Global Disinformation Index, which compiled advertiser blacklists to financially punish news outlets it decided were spreading “disinformation.”

Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg co-founded HateAid, a German group pushing legal action against speech it calls “digital violence.”

Rubio accused them of leading “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.”

CITR’s attorney Carrie DeCell argued that “the government is subjecting CITR members and other non-citizens to exclusion, detention and deportation simply for reporting on speech on social media and the harms that might arise from it, and advocating for different content moderation policies and other policies that might govern internet platforms.”

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Rubio Accuses Zelenskyy of Telling a Significant Lie About US Security Guarantees: ‘He Knows That’s Not True’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio might be the United States’ top diplomat, but there was nothing diplomatic in his language on Friday.

During a meeting with reporters at the end of a foreign ministers summit in France, Rubio was asked about a statement by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing security guarantees the U.S. has offered in talks to end the Russian war in Ukraine.

Rubio’s response was blunt to the point of insult.

A reporter had asked Rubio to comment on Zelenskyy statements reported Thursday by Reuters, in which the Ukrainian president said U.S. security guarantees depended on Ukraine withdrawing its forces from the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east — the scene of heavy fighting between Russian invaders and Ukrainian defenders.

In effect, Zelenskyy said the U.S. was pressuring Ukraine to surrender its territory in exchange for American support against future Russian aggression.

“That’s a lie,” Rubio said. “And I saw him say that, and it’s unfortunate he would say that, ’cause he knows that’s not true, and it’s not what he was told.

“What he was told is the obvious: Security guarantees are not going to kick in until there’s an end to a war. Because, otherwise, you’re getting yourself involved in a war …

“What he was told very clearly, and he should have understood it, is that the security guarantees come only after there is an end to the war.

“That was not attached to, ‘unless he gives up territory.’ I don’t know why he says these things. They’re just not true.”

The blowup is the latest battle between Zelenskyy and the Trump administration. That relationship has experienced some rocky moments since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

At that point, the war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022, had been raging for almost three years.

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Trump and Rubio Give Final Offer to the Castros and Díaz-Canel: “Off-Ramp” to Cede Power Without Forced Exile or End Up Like Maduro in Prison

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pushing an economic agreement with the Cuban regime that includes an “off-ramp” —a negotiated exit— to allow the Castro family and President Miguel Díaz-Canel to cede power without forced exile, according to an exclusive report from The Telegraph.

The plan would allow these leaders to remain on the island in exchange for concessions in ports, energy, and tourism, with possible selective relief in sanctions.

The conversations involve Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro, who maintains key influence. Rubio, son of Cuban immigrants, leads the high-level negotiations, as confirmed by Trump in public statements.

The president has said that “Cuba is in its final moment of life as it is” and that an agreement will be reached “very easily”.

This pressure intensified after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3, 2026, in Caracas by U.S. forces.

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Marco Rubio Says U.S. About to “UNLEASH CHIANG” on Iran — Warns Scope and Intensity of Strikes Will SURGE in Coming Hours and Days

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stark warning Monday that the United States is about to dramatically escalate its military campaign against Iran, declaring that the next phase of strikes will bring a massive surge in power and intensity as the West moves to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.

This new warning comes after the US Consulate in Dubai was on fire after it was hit by an Iranian drone on Tuesday.

Standing before reporters ahead of a series of congressional briefings on Capitol Hill, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary Marco Rubio made it clear that the current wave of attacks is only the beginning.

The officials are scheduled to meet first with members of the Senate and then with the House.

“…hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them. And so, CENTCOM, in a joint operation, is carrying out the systematic destruction of their missile belt, the destruction of their launchers, and the destruction of their ability to make these, as well as the destruction of their Navy.

From what I’ve been told by the Department of War, everything is on or ahead of schedule and proceeding toward these objectives. We have every confidence in the world that these objectives will be achieved.

The last point I would make is—and I said this yesterday, and I repeat—what’s about to happen… You’re about to see we’re going to unleash Chiang on these people in the next few hours and days.

You’re really going to begin to perceive a change in the scope and intensity of these attacks as, frankly, the two most powerful air forces in the world take apart this terroristic regime, defang it, and take away its ability to threaten its neighbors or hide behind a zone of immunity that allows them to develop their nuclear ambitions.”

“Unleash Chiang” originated as a 1950s American conservative battle cry to remove the U.S. Seventh Fleet from the Taiwan Strait, allowing Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek to attack mainland China. It signifies a desire to take aggressive, disruptive action to overthrow a rival.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur was famously relieved of his duties by President Truman in part for publicly pushing to “unleash” Chiang.

According to Rubio, the coming escalation will demonstrate the overwhelming force of American and Israeli airpower as they target Iran’s strategic military assets.

The secretary emphasized that the objective is straightforward: eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten its neighbors and prevent the radical clerical regime from ever acquiring nuclear weapons.

Rubio argued that the regime’s brutality toward its own people proves why it cannot be trusted with such power.

“This terroristic, radical, clerical-led regime cannot ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons,” Rubio said. “We saw what they were willing to do to their own people. They were willing to slaughter their own people in the streets. Imagine what they would do to us. Imagine what they would do to others.”

The administration maintains that the campaign’s focus is on destroying Iran’s ballistic missile program and weakening its naval capabilities, systems officials say could threaten U.S. forces and allies throughout the Middle East.

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Fury as Marco Rubio admits Israel forced US into war with Iran: ‘The worst possible thing’

The US launched preemptive strikes against Iran after learning Israel was about to attack — and American troops in the region faced an imminent threat of retaliation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday. 

Rubio made the revelation on Capitol Hill, where he briefed a small group of congressional leaders on the joint US-Israel offensive.

‘There absolutely was an imminent threat,’ Rubio stated. ‘And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded.’

Rubio said the Department of War determined that a defensive posture following an Israeli attack would only open the US to more casualties. Five American soldiers have died so far in combat. 

‘We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage,’ he said. 

‘Had we not done so, there would have been hearings on Capitol Hill about how we knew that this was going to happen, and we didn’t act preemptively to prevent more casualties and more loss of life,’ Rubio explained. 

The revelation outraged both Democrats and Republicans.

‘Secretary Rubio’s remarks indicate that Israel put U.S. forces in harm’s way by insisting on attacking Iran,’ Congressman Joaquin Castro reacted on X. ‘And the administration was complicit—joining their war instead of talking them down.’

Conservative pundit Matt Walsh wrote: ‘So he’s flat out telling us that we’re in a war with Iran because Israel forced our hand. This is basically the worst possible thing he could have said.’

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Rubio Hints at Preemptive Strike Option Against Iran

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while testifying before the Senate, hinted that the United States could take preemptive action against Iran and told lawmakers that Tehran’s leadership is at its weakest point in years.

“I think it’s wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what’s going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against thousands of American servicemen and other facilities in the region and our allies,” Rubio said during Wednesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Venezuela, Gulf News reported.

The Trump administration’s push to strengthen U.S. assets in the Middle East, including the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, is aimed at protecting more than 30,000 service members in the region.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s, I think what you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel,” Rubio said, referring to a potential preemptive strike.

He added that Iran’s military capabilities are “weaker” than they have ever been, but warned that the country has “thousands and thousands” of long-range ballistic missiles even though its “economy is collapsing.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has publicly supported protesters in Iran, warning Tehran that violence against them would bring military consequences.

He repeated that warning Wednesday, saying future action against Iran would be “far worse” than last summer’s strikes on its nuclear facilities.

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