In just one year, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have transformed foreign policy with their “America First” approach.
By rescuing Americans abroad, cutting bureaucracy, fighting narco-terrorists, and promoting peace, the administration has laid the groundwork to continue strengthening American influence in Trump’s final term.
Reflecting on the first year, State Department principal deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott told The Daily Wire that Trump has delivered “historic accomplishments,” making the United States  “great, strong, prosperous, and respected again,” and adding that “the best is yet to come.”
Here are Trump and Rubio’s foreign policy accomplishments of 2025:
<h4>Returning Hostages And Wrongfully Detained Americans</h4>
Since Trump took office, nearly 50 living hostages have been freed from Gaza. Just days before his inauguration, his team, working with the outgoing Biden administration, negotiated a ceasefire and a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. That initial agreement led to the release of 38 hostages but collapsed in March.
In October, following another Trump-negotiated ceasefire, the remaining <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/final-living-israeli-hostages-freed-after-737-days-in-hamas-captivity?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=22&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Final+Living+Israeli+Hostages+Freed+After+737+Days+In+Hamas+Captivity">30 living hostages</a> were released. More than 30 bodies were also returned, leaving only one still in Gaza: Ran Gvili. Trump has promised to return Gvili’s body to his family. Americans were among those freed, including Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Edan Alexander.
Trump also secured the release of several wrongfully detained Americans. Just hours after the president’s inauguration, the Taliban <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days">freed Ryan Corbett</a>, who had spent 894 days in captivity in Afghanistan, and William McKenty. The administration also secured the freedom of George Glezmann, held by the Taliban for over two years, and Amir Amiri, who had been detained for nine months.
In February, envoy Richard Grenell brought <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-envoy-richard-grenell-gets-6-american-hostages-released-from-venezuela">six Americans</a> home from Venezuela, where some had been abused after being kidnapped as tourists. The administration also secured the release of American schoolteacher <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days">Marc Fogel</a> in February and Russian-American ballerina <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days">Ksenia Karelina</a> in April, both of whom had been imprisoned under harsh sentences in Russia. Anastasia Nuhfer was also returned home from Belarus in early 2025.
<div id="attachment_1022001" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022001" class="wp-image-1022001 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2198419299-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2198419299-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2198419299-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2198419299-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2198419299.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />US President Donald Trump, left, greets US schoolteacher Marc Fogel. Daniel Heuer/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
Cutting Waste And Bureaucracy
Trump and Rubio have overhauled the State Department, eliminating or consolidating nearly 45% of domestic offices and cutting staff to streamline operations. The department says the reorganization empowers embassies and regional bureaus and ensures America&#8217;s interests are being served abroad.
The State Department trimmed costs by $270.8 million by reducing the scope of 659 contracts and ending or not renewing 533 others, data from the Federal Procurement Data System shows. Travel expenses were also slashed, with the Department spending $100 million less on trips than the previous year.
<div id="attachment_1022003" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022003" class="wp-image-1022003 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2249270831-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2249270831-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2249270831-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2249270831-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2249270831.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) and Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi (L) participate in a Health Framework of Cooperation signing ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC on December 4, 2025. Photo by Allison ROBBERT / AFP via Getty Images</div>
The Trump administration also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-trump-administrations-new-foreign-aid-model-cuts-out-the-ngo-industrial-complex">overhauled</a> how it distributed foreign aid, choosing to send funds directly to partner governments and bypassing what Rubio called the “NGO industrial complex.” Rubio said the previous model funneled aid through NGOs that consumed large portions of funding on overhead rather than the programs they were intended to support. He added that relying on NGOs left host countries with little control and created redundancy instead of strengthening existing health systems.
In April, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marco-rubio-tells-ben-shapiro-why-he-nuked-state-departments-censorship-agency?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Marco+Rubio+Tells+Ben+Shapiro+Why+He+Nuked+State+Department%E2%80%99s+Censorship+Agency">Rubio announced</a> the closure of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), saying the agency “was labeling American speech by Americans as foreign interference.” Created in 2011 to counter terrorist propaganda, the GEC shifted after the 2016 election to targeting domestic “misinformation.” Rubio added that the Center would also be investigated for allegedly being “used as a weapon against the American people.”
In May, Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance helped negotiate a ceasefire between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan following a terrorist attack in the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, which left 26 civilians dead. The attack <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/india-launches-airstrikes-on-pakistan-as-tensions-explode-over-terror-attack">triggered military air strikes</a> and cross-border small-arms fire. Trump said the ceasefire, which has held, was the result of a “long night of talks.”
Peace Push
The following month, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-announces-complete-and-total-ceasefire-between-israel-and-iran">Trump announced</a> a “complete and total ceasefire” between Israel and Iran, ending a 12‑day conflict. The agreement followed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-b2-bomber">37-hour</a> B‑2 bomber mission by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites. While airstrikes have ceased, Iran continues hostile rhetoric, which Trump has matched, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-supports-israel-attacking-iran-again-as-he-welcomes-netanyahu-to-mar-a-lago?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+He+Supports+Israel+Attacking+Iran+Again+As+He+Welcomes+Netanyahu+To+Mar-A-Lago">stating his support</a> for Israel to strike Iran again if it continues pursuing missile or nuclear programs during a December meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
President Donald J. Trump in The Situation Room, June 21, 2025 <a href="https://t.co/SXyXiuYswI">pic.twitter.com/SXyXiuYswI</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1936605837751181732?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
Also in June, the Trump administration brokered a historic peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda at the White House in June. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe and Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner were present in the Oval Office. The agreement calls for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from eastern Congo and the establishment of a joint security mechanism. The agreement between the two neighbors also aims to attract investment to Congo’s mineral-rich provinces, including from the United States.
<div id="attachment_1022007" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022007" class="wp-image-1022007 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2221629839-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2221629839-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2221629839-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2221629839-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2221629839.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed to a US-backed peace deal meant to end years of deadly conflict and promote development in Congo&#8217;s volatile eastern region. Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
In July, Trump negotiated a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia after conflict broke out the previous month, leaving dozens dead. When violence flared again in December, he successfully pushed for a second agreement, saying the two nations will “go back to living in PEACE, as per our recently agreed to original Treaty.”
Trump rounded out the summer by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stop-all-fighting-forever-trump-secures-major-peace-deal-between-armenia-azerbaijan">facilitating the signing</a> of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have been in conflict since the 1990s. In the Oval Office in August, Trump said Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan had committed to “stop all fighting forever, open up commerce, travel, and diplomatic relations and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The deal also grants the United States the right to develop a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus, which will be named in honor of Trump.
Taking On Illegal Immigration and Narco Terrorists
The Trump Administration has waged a full-fledged offensive against narco-terrorists trafficking drugs by sea. The U.S. military has sunk several vessels of the terrorists and arrested others, including Sinaloa Cartel leader Efrain Sanchez Cabanillas in the Dominican Republic, MS-13 leader Alvaro Osiris Acosta Bustillo in Honduras, and local Tren de Aragua leader “Chino San Vicente” in Colombia. Trump said that his efforts have slashed drug trafficking through maritime rights by more than 90% and saved “hundreds of thousands of lives.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
📹 ON VIDEO: This morning, President Trump ordered a strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking. The strike was conducted in international waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed. <a href="https://t.co/tKAtfQF7Tr">pic.twitter.com/tKAtfQF7Tr</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1978165208225894678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
Encounters with immigrants at the southern border are down 99% since January. This sharply contrasts with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexicos-door-daily-wires-kassy-akiva-sees-the-border-crisis-firsthand-2">The Daily Wire’s visit</a> to the Mexico‑Texas border less than a year ago, when migrants were lining the Rio Grande after swimming across. Under the Biden administration, more than 10 million illegal crossings were documented. So far under the Trump administration, there have been roughly 102,000 apprehensions at the southern border.
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In 2025, the State Department signed “Safe Third Country” agreements to expedite the deportation of migrants in the United States and revoked more than 85,000 non-immigrant visas, often targeting holders whose views were considered opposed to American values. The Trump administration announced it began <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days">screening visa seekers’</a> social media for terrorist or antisemitic content, with any such findings potentially serving as grounds for denying student visas.
Trump introduced a “Gold Card” visa aimed at attracting high-net-worth immigrants to the United States. For $5 million, recipients would receive Green Card privileges with a potential path to citizenship. Trump said the program would boost the U.S. economy by encouraging spending, tax contributions, and business creation.

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Trump And Rubio’s Best America First Wins Of 2025

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Trump And Rubio’s Best America First Wins Of 2025