Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press

SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay, let’s just go to questions. You ready?

QUESTION: So have you managed to —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing this. I wanted to ask you first about your meetings yesterday with Pope Leo. President Trump has had very harsh language and words for the Pope against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Did you make amends with the Pope yesterday?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we had a very good meeting. I mean, ultimately it’s important – first of all, we – there’s a lot we work together with, with the church, and we talked about those areas that we’re working together on in different parts of the world. I know everyone’s interested in the other aspects of it, but I expressed – updated them on the situation with Iran, expressed our point of view about why this was important, and the danger that Iran poses to the world, which is largely recognized.

So, obviously the holy father is a spiritual leader, he’s – first and foremost. I mean, that’s his role to play. And obviously the church has always interacted on behalf of a mission for peace and a respect for all of humanity, and – but at the end, it was a very cordial and important meeting, and it’s important to share our points of view and an explanation and an understanding of where we’re coming from. And I thought it was very positive.

QUESTION: Secretary Rubio, you also mentioned talking about the Western Hemisphere with the Pope. And of course, the Catholic Church is instrumental in delivering humanitarian aid to Cuba. I wondered if you discussed that, and whether there was any disagreements on U.S. policy towards Cuba with the Pope.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, we discussed – I mean, we’ve provided $6 million of humanitarian aid, U.S. humanitarian aid that was distributed by Caritas, the Catholic Church agency. We’re prepared to do more. In fact, we’ve offered the regime there $100 million of humanitarian aid that, unfortunately, so far, they have not agreed to distribute to the people in Cuba. So we did the hurricane relief, but we’re offering more, and it’s the regime that’s not accepting it, it’s the regime that’s standing in the way of it.

So we discussed that, and we hope we can do it because we do want to help the people of Cuba, who are being hurt by this incompetent regime that’s destroyed the country and the economy.

QUESTION: Secretary, can I ask about the – the meeting with the Pope. I mean, after this meeting with the Pope, which you described as cordial and productive, are you going to recommend to the President that he stops criticizing the Pope in social media?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Why would I tell you what I’m going to recommend to the President? But beyond that, the President will always speak clearly about how he feels about the U.S. and U.S. policy. The President of the United States is always going to act in what’s in the best interests of the United States. I think we can do that and continue to also have a very productive and fruitful and important relationship with the church, because it plays an important role in the world as well.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you talk about whether or not —

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, no, no; I called on her. I’m sorry.

QUESTION: Secretary Rubio, were there any themes from your conversation yesterday with Pope Leo that resonated with you personally?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, if it was personal, why would I tell you? (Laughter.) No, here’s the bottom line on that, is that the church is an important global institution and has a presence all over the world. I know you guys are fixated on who said what about who at what time; I understand all that, okay. Because media, you guys have headlines, you have editors, you have people that want you to post, and these are interesting stories. But at the end of the day, the Pope just returned from Africa, right? A very important continent with growing Christian populations, many of whom are – who are threatened or feel threatened by the spread of radical Islamic terrorism. So we care about that. The Pope and the church has an interest in Christian communities in Lebanon, a place that we’re very involved in trying to establish a peace between Israel and Lebanon. The church obviously has a very important presence in Latin America. The bishops from Venezuela had just been here a few days earlier. So we shared thoughts about those sorts of things.

I think it’s an opportunity to personally express our point of view from the standpoint of foreign policy in the areas we’re involved in and share insights, but also to gain insights. Because the church has a unique role in many of these countries in terms of the insights and information that they’re receiving. In some cases in the past, the church has been an important interlocutor – not just with governments, but with societies.

And then of course on the practical level, the church plays an important role in humanitarian efforts in different parts of the world, and in many places has served as a facilitator of U.S. humanitarian assistance such as I highlighted a moment ago when it comes to Cuba.

Yes, go ahead. I’ll get to you, I promise. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you say in your meeting with Prime Minister Meloni whether you talked about the possibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from Italy as well as the possibility of the United States withdrawing from NATO altogether?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we’re – I – we didn’t discuss any specifics like that, and that’s a decision for the President to make. It’s a decision every president makes. The fact of the matter, though, is – and I said publicly, and I’ve said repeatedly – I’ve been a strong supporter of NATO throughout my career in the Senate and even now. One of the advantages of being in NATO is that it allows us to have forces deployed in Europe in bases that allow us a logistical ability to project power in case of contingencies.

Well, we had a contingency. And some countries in Europe – some countries in Europe like Spain, as an example – denied us the use of those bases for a very important contingency, that in some ways the denial of those bases actually impeded the mission. Not severely, but it had a cost, and in fact even created some unnecessary dangers. So, if the – if one of the main reasons why the U.S. is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other contingencies, and now that’s no longer the case, at least when it comes to some NATO members, that’s a problem, and it has to be examined.

But ultimately that’s a decision for the President to make. His team, and people like myself and others, will provide him what those potential options are, but ultimately he’ll have to make that decision. He hasn’t made those decisions yet. As far as recent news of deployments, like for example the one – those were all already ongoing. For example, in Germany, the troops that we’ll withdraw, which represent less than 14 percent of our total troop presence there, that’s already pre-programmed. And in fact, all it did is take us back to where we were in 2022. And so there was always a plan to do some shifting within NATO.

As far as broader changes, that’s – I don’t have an announcement for you on that today, but that’s a decision for the President to make. Certainly, we’ll present both options and perspectives, but we’re – that – I don’t have anything new to announce on that today.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, your former colleagues on the Hill, the Republican senators, believe that troops’ withdrawal will embolden Putin and will benefit Russia. Do you agree with this?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Will do what, I’m sorry?

QUESTION: Troops’ withdrawal will embolden Putin and benefit Russia. Do you agree with that assessment?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, in the end, the United States is always – the President is going to always do what’s in the national interest. We have global obligations all over the world. We have troop deployments all over the world, and those are constantly shifting and changing. For example, we increased troop presence in NATO in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine. So, we’re always making these decisions, and there were some already previewed in – before any of this had happened in terms of the base denials.

But in the end, look, here the bottom line is that we always – while we may be the most powerful country in the world and we may have the most resources, our resources are not unlimited. We have to always assign resources around the world, including military resources, on the basis of what serves the national interest. That’s a decision the President has to make, especially within the context of recent developments by some countries within NATO and the stance they’ve taken towards the United States. But no decision’s been made on that yet; that’s something the President’s still working through.

QUESTION: Have you managed to bridge differences on Iran, both with Rome and with the Vatican?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. I mean, I don’t – I think we – everybody agrees that Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable – everyone. I mean, I don’t know of anyone who thinks it’s a good idea for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, except the ayatollah. So I think the question is, what do you do about it? And the President’s actually trying to do something about it. And so, I mean, that’s – I don’t know what the – I don’t think there’s any disagreement that they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I think the question is, what do you do about it? And we’ve had – every American president says, oh, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. This is the first American President that’s actually trying to do something concrete about it. I don’t know who would dis-agree with that. I mean, it’s an important thing that has to be confronted.

QUESTION: And we talked to officials —

QUESTION: Can you give us —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Go ahead.

QUESTION: Can you give us an update on the status of negotiations with Iran right now?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we should know something today. I mean, we’re expecting a response from them. We’ll see what their response entails. The hope is it’s something that – it can put us into a serious process of negotiation. Obviously, we’ve seen the reporting overnight that Iran has established or trying to establish some agency that’s going to control traffic in the straits. That would be very – that would actually be unacceptable. I mean, we’re – the normalizing of their controlling of an international waterway is both illegal and it’s just something that’s unacceptable. And the world has to start asking itself what is it willing to do if Iran tries to normalize a control of an international waterway. I think that’s unacceptable.

So – but we’re expecting a response from them today at some point. We have not received that yet as the last – in the last hour, but perhaps that will come. Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well, so that may be serving as an impediment. I hope it’s a serious offer. I really do.

QUESTION: Can you confirm there’s a resume of the talks between Israel and Lebanon next week? You expect that to —

SECRETARY RUBIO: We expect talks. I can’t – I don’t know if we’ve set the exact date yet, but we expect that there’ll be additional talks. Look, the – we – it’s one of the areas that I think we can work with Italy on; they can play a very productive role and a constructive role in providing resources to the Lebanese Government. In the end, we all share the same goal – and by “all,” I mean including the Lebanese Government and the Israel Government – that we want the relations between Israel and Lebanon, its legitimate government, to be very strong. The impediment to that is Hizballah – again, an Iranian agent, Hizballah, who is victimizing not just Israelis, but Hizballah is also victimizing Lebanon. The reason why Lebanon faces bombings, the reason why Lebanon faces violence, is because of Hizballah. It is Hizballah that’s imposing this on them.

So I think we all share the same goal, which is a strong Lebanese Government that doesn’t have an armed Hizballah operating within its national territory and posing a threat to any of its neighbors. And to do that, we have to empower and equip the Lebanese Government to be able to confront that threat, and I think Italy – and other countries, but Italy in particular – can play an important role in not just helping equip the government, but in cutting off the illicit financing that supports – helping them to cut off the financing that supports Hizballah and the danger they pose.

QUESTION: Is it possible to get a peace deal on Lebanon without first solving the conflict with Iran? How linked are those two conflicts right now?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I mean, Hizballah is an Iranian agent, 100 percent. I mean, Hizballah wouldn’t exist without Iran’s support. So – but I think it’s possible. I mean, Hizballah has been both weakened but still capable of inflicting damage and doing terroristic activities, as we’ve seen.

So, I think the way I would phrase it is we’re not going to negotiate with Iran over Hizballah because Hizballah is a dangerous – other than if they’re willing to stop funding them and supporting them. I think our negotiations are with – our role is with the Lebanese Government. Lebanon should be governed by the Lebanese Government. It should not have a terrorist group operating within its national territory that poses a threat both to its own people, including the Shia population, and to the government and to Israel and to its other neighbors. So, that’s what we’re going to focus on.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you come back to Cuba a little bit? The United States, including yesterday, are ramping up sanctions against Cuba, the regime, and all that. With the exchange with the Pope, did you feel any convergence of views on that and on U.S. policy?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, let me clarify something for you: Our sanctions are against a company named GAESA.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay? This is a holding company set up by generals in Cuba that has generated billions of dollars of revenue, none of which benefits the Cuban people. Not one cent of it benefits the Cuban people. You understand this, right? I don’t know if you know this. There’s the Cuban Government, and they have a budget, and then there’s this private company that has more money than the government does. None of the money in that company goes to build a single road, a single bridge, provide a single grain of rice to a single Cuban, other than the people that are part of GAESA. So that’s what we’re sanctioning, is a company that basically is taking anything that makes money in Cuba and illegally putting it into the pockets of a few regime insiders.

So, that’s not sanctions on the Cuban people because the Cuban people don’t benefit from GAESA. It’s a sanction against this company that is stealing from the Cuban people to the benefit of a few. And we didn’t discuss those sanctions yesterday, but we imposed them yesterday, and we’re going to be doing more, by the way.

QUESTION: Can I ask you about —

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary – sorry – many people thought that your job was a mission impossible after the Trump’s attacks, heavy attacks, on —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Which mission? I’m sorry.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Mission impossible?

QUESTION: The mission – yes. What’s your judgment at the end of the visit? Mission accomplished?

SECRETARY RUBIO: We work with the Vatican on a lot of things. Our relationship between – for example, our mission here in the Vatican, like I told you, I mean, we’re working together on humanitarian issues. We’re focused on other issues as well. The President’s perspective is clear. He thinks that Iran is a threat, and it needs to be addressed. And that position remains unchanged. And I think we’re capable of having that position and expressing that position clearly, and also working cooperatively, and – as we have for a century; in fact, we have for decades – with the Vatican and with the Catholic Church, who has a global presence.

QUESTION: Did you explicitly ask the Pope to stop his criticism of the Iran war?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I’m not going to discuss what I talked about with the Pope. But I’m not going to ask him to – that’s not the purpose of the – I told you guys before I even came here, and that is that we have a very strong relationship with the Vatican. We work with them on a lot of things around the world. This was a trip that had been planned even before all these things had happened. So why – just as an example, why would I not want to hear the perspectives of the most important, many cases, far-reaching religious leader in the world on his perspectives about what he saw on his trip to Africa, or what his bishops and others and agencies are hearing in the Western Hemisphere? Or the plight of Christians in Africa but also those in Lebanon, a place that – so of course we’re going to engage with him on these things. That was the purpose of our meeting, and in that realm, it was very, very productive. And it was a good meeting because we were able to talk about these different areas in the world where they have a presence, where they are engaged, and we are as well, and of course find opportunities to either continue cooperating where that already exists, like in Cuba, or expand our cooperation in other places where it makes sense.

QUESTION: Is it fair to expect a phone call between the President and the Pope anytime soon?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I don’t know, maybe. I don’t know. I mean, it could happen.

QUESTION: May I ask you about Iran, if possible? You declared that Operation Epic Fury was over, but given all these military actions that we’re seeing on the ground, what does “over” mean militarily?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, no, Operation Epic Fury was an offensive operation designed to destroy their missile launches, their navy, their air force; and it achieved that – and their factories – and it achieved that. What you saw yesterday was U.S. destroyers moving through international waters being fired upon by the Iranians, and the U.S. responded defensively to protect themselves. That’s what you saw. I mean, that’s separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury.

The – I don’t – what – if you fire a drone or a missile at our destroyer, what are we supposed to do? Let it hit it? We have to respond to it. We have to knock down the missile, and we have to knock out whatever it is that launched that missile. The alternative is to let it sink one of our ships; that’s crazy. So of course we responded to it.

QUESTION: Well, I guess but the point is if there’s not much ceasing in the firing – because we’ve seen so many attacks —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, you should ask that of the Iranians; don’t ask me. We didn’t fire; they fired on us. My point is if you fire at a U.S. Navy ship, what are we supposed to do? Say, “Oh, there’s a ceasefire, we’re not going to shoot down your drone?” That’s a stupid question. That’s a stupid position to take. Of course we fired back at them. They were shooting at us. That’s what I would expect to do. Only stupid countries don’t shoot back when you’re shot at, and we’re not a stupid country.

QUESTION: Do you expect that their – or have you conveyed any red lines to Iran where if the ceasefire, or whatever you call it – if they cross certain red lines —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Oh, the red line is clear. They threaten Americans, they’re going to get blown up. I mean, that’s – how much clearer can you be than that? If you fire on – if you are a missile-launching guy, whatever they call that job, and you’re sitting there, and you fire a missile at the United States and we saw you fire it, we’re going to hit you. Of course we are. Who doesn’t do that? Unless you want to get your ship sunk. We’re not going to let our ships get sunk by the Iranians with their little – their drones that they’re firing. They don’t have a navy anymore, but they bring out these little Boston whaler fishing boats and they try to swarm you – we’re going to blow those boats up if they’re coming towards our boats. I don’t know if that’s a red line, but I hope they know it is by now.

So if I were one of these Iranians on a fast boat and they tell you, hey, your mission is to go after a U.S. destroyer, you’re probably not going to survive. I think that’s a red line.

QUESTION: Going back to European reaction —

SECRETARY RUBIO: Does anybody have – and I’m – any of you have any other questions? This guy’s like a monopoly over here. And then I’ll answer your questions.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay, come on. I’m trying to be fair.

QUESTION: The President has expressed disappointment in support, or lack thereof, in Europe. Was there any discussion today in your meeting with Prime Minister Meloni or Foreign Minister Tajani about them providing escorts in the Strait of Hormuz or —

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, we didn’t get to that level of specificity about what they – here’s the bottom line, okay. Everybody says Iran is a threat. Everybody says that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. Okay. But you’ve got to do something about it. The President’s trying to do something about it. And I don’t understand why anybody would not be supportive of that, and he doesn’t understand, and rightfully so, why somebody wouldn’t supportive of that.

But here’s a more fundamental problem. Iran now claims that they own, that they have a right to control, an international waterway. They claim that they have a right to control it. What is the world going to do about that? Is the world going to accept that Iran now controls an international waterway? Because if the world is prepared to accept that, then be ready because there’s like 10 other countries that are going to start doing the same thing in their international waterways or in international waterways near their countries. That’s an unacceptable thing that they’re trying to normalize.

So if the answer is no, we don’t think Iran should be able to control the Straits of Hormuz, then the next question’s going to be for everyone, well, what are you going to do about it? What is the world prepared to do about it? And we’re trying to do something about it diplomatically. We have a resolution at the United Nations that we’re trying to move forward in which the world and the UN will have an opportunity through the Security Council to vote and say we are not going to allow them to mine the straits; we’re not going to allow them to try to control the straits. And by the way, you have a bunch of humanitarian aid that’s trapped inside the Persian Gulf and needs to be released and has not been able to move. We’re going to give the world a chance to pronounce itself on it. And if Russia or China or some other country decide to veto it, then you know what the impediment is.

But the fundamental question every country – not Italy, every country – needs to ask themselves is, are you going to normalize a country claiming to control an international waterway? Because if you normalize that, you’ve set a precedent that’s going to get repeated in a dozen other places. And if the answer is no, we don’t want to normalize it, then you’d better have something more than just strongly worded statements to back it up. And that’s the point I’ve made in all of my visits, not just here. I didn’t come to Italy just to make that point. I would say that to any country that complains about the straits because that’s what we potentially are facing unless we get a good deal from the Iranians, and we’re waiting to hear that today.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can I move to Taiwan, actually? Sorry to geographically go around the world.

QUESTION: The parliament just approved a pretty big, massive defense bill today or last night. There was a little bit less than what the president of Taiwan was asking for, but nonetheless it’s a big bill, including money to buy U.S. arms. What is your reaction to that, if any, and specifically in the context of the trip you’re going to be doing with the President next week in China?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, all I would say in the context of the trip next week, and Taiwan in specific, is the United States does – our policy remains unchanged. We don’t want to see any forced or compelled change in the situation now. We think it would be destabilizing to the world. It’s – our position on that has been – we’ve heard, obviously, the Chinese position and we’ve made our position on that clear as well. And I imagine that will be discussed in the trip, but I don’t think it will be a feature of our trip, but it’ll certainly be an item that’s discussed. We think it’s to the benefit of China, the United States, and the world writ large that there be stability in the straits there, and that continues to be our position, and that’s the one we’ll continue to stand by and advocate for.

All right, I have time for one more and we’ve got to leave.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, may I ask about Ukraine before you go?

QUESTION: You spoke with Lavrov recently, and they targeted a kindergarten in Ukraine even after they advocated for ceasefire. Where does the negotiation stand right now?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, right now the negotiations aren’t – we’re not – we played, tried to play, a mediator role in that. So far it has not led to a fruitful outcome for a variety of reasons. We remain prepared to play that role if it can be productive. We don’t want to waste our time and invest time and energy into an effort that’s not moving forward. But if we see an opportunity to act as a mediator that brings both sides closer to a peace deal, we’d like to see it. Our position at the end of the day is that this war is a tragedy. Both sides are paying a very heavy price for it, both economic and obviously at a human level. It’s destructive. We’re against it. And anytime you tell me about strikes on people – every time I hear about these things, it just reminds us of why this war needs to end.

And while we’re prepared to play whatever role we can to bring it to a peaceful diplomatic resolution, unfortunately, right now those efforts have stagnated, but we always stand ready if those circumstances change.

QUESTION: Can I just ask one other?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, and then I got to go, and I apologize.

QUESTION: One on Africa. I mean, the President committed last year to personally intervening to help try to end the war in Sudan. The Pope, in one of his addresses, called this one of the world’s greatest tragedies. Did this come up at all in your discussions?

SECRETARY RUBIO: We didn’t —

QUESTION: And do you see any movement towards (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we discussed Africa broadly, and of course Sudan being an incredible tragedy. We’ve been heavily engaged through that Quad process. Obviously, Sudan has become in some way sort of a proxy engagement between multiple countries who are behind some of the elements that are fighting. There are other countries that are not directly involved but have allowed their national territories to be used as a way to ship weaponry. We recently had a pretty positive announcement for the first time on a statement of principles, but we have to give it some action.

What we’ve really been focused on in Sudan is sort of establishing a humanitarian ceasefire that allows us to provide aid to people that are suffering tremendously there, but not doing so at the expense of a broader deal. So, we do want the humanitarian ceasefire where we can identify a number of communities that are safe havens for the distribution of humanitarian aid for what is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises ever. We – but you can’t do that unless you have the security to be able to provide the aid. But we don’t – we also want – we don’t want that to be the final outcome.

In addition to the humanitarian corridors and the humanitarian sites, we need to bring this conflict to an end. And the way to bring this conflict to an end is for the countries and the parties who are supporting the fighting elements to force these elements toward a peace deal that ends this conflict. And as I said, we’ve been very involved in that Quad process, invested a lot of time in it, continue to be engaged on a daily basis, and in fact have people in our bureau in Africa as well as our Special Envoy Massad Boulos involved almost daily on this topic.

So okay, guys. I got to run. I apologize. Thank you.

QUESTION: Were you surprised by your Italian origins?

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, were you surprised by your Italian origins?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, not surprised today. I learned about it in 2017 when PBS did a “Finding Your Roots” special. That’s where I found it.