<p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio unloaded on ABC News host Martha Raddatz over her claim that when President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Friday&#8217;s summit in Alaska, he had effectively &#8220;elevated&#8221; the Russian leader on the world stage.</p>
<p>Raddatz brought up the summit, which Trump has touted as a success, and claimed that &#8220;people were saying&#8221; he had actually given Putin the upper hand by allowing him to walk the &#8220;red carpet&#8221; and be seen on the &#8220;world stage&#8221; meeting with the American President.</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> nukes ABC for asking about the &#8220;red carpet&#8221; for Putin: &#8220;You&#8217;re not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin&#8230; [<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>] is the only leader in the world that could get Putin to a meeting to talk about serious things.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/daqIzXA9H6">pic.twitter.com/daqIzXA9H6</a></p>
<p>— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957082014156296663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;Critics of President Trump will say the pomp and circumstance — pomp and circumstance, the red carpet, the warm handshake — that President Trump simply lost that, that Putin gained there just by being on the world stage and walking down a red carpet with the president,&#8221; Raddatz said. &#8220;Your reaction to that?&#8221;</p>
<p>Rubio chuckled before responding, &#8220;Well, critics of President Trump are always going to find something to criticize, we don&#8217;t even pay attention to it anymore, but I will tell you this: Putin is already on the world stage.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Secretary of State went on to point out that Putin, after waging a major war against Ukraine for over three years, could hardly be considered a non-entity when it came to global politics — especially since he also sits in control of the second largest strategic nuclear arsenal in the world.</p>
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<p>&#8220;When I hear people say that, &#8216;Oh, it elevates him,&#8217; all we do is talk about Putin all the time. All the media&#8217;s done is talk about Putin all the time for the last four or five years,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;That doesn&#8217;t mean he&#8217;s right about the war, that doesn&#8217;t mean he&#8217;s justified about the war. If you put all of that aside, it means you&#8217;re not going to have a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, you&#8217;re not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s just common sense, I shouldn&#8217;t even have to say it,&#8221; Rubio continued, reminding Raddatz that it wasn&#8217;t the United States at war with Russia and arguing that Trump did not have to intervene at all – but also noting that he was the only leader with the ability to do so.</p>
<p>Raddatz further pressed Rubio to reveal details from the negotiations, asking what &#8220;concessions&#8221; Putin may have agreed to, but Rubio refused: &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t name them on your program.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a>: &#8220;What utility would there be of me going on a program and telling you we wagged our finger at Putin and told him you must do this? &#8230; As much as everyone would love it to be a live PPV event, these discussions ONLY work best when they are conducted privately.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/8LFJj06Fgq">pic.twitter.com/8LFJj06Fgq</a></p>
<p>— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1957076077693509860?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;What utility would there be of me going on a program and telling you we wagged our finger at Putin and told him you must do this?&#8221; Rubio asked. &#8220;As much as everyone would love it to be a live pay-per-view event, these discussions ONLY work best when they are conducted privately.&#8221;</p>

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‘I Shouldn’t Even Have To Say It’: Rubio Slaps Back ABC’s Raddatz For Saying Trump ‘Elevated’ Putin

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‘I Shouldn’t Even Have To Say It’: Rubio Slaps Back ABC’s Raddatz For Saying Trump ‘Elevated’ Putin