Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Cuba is “a huge problem” and is “in a lot of trouble” after the Trump administration arrested Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela over the weekend.
Rubio appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday to explain and defend Saturday’s military operation to arrest Venezuela’s former president and extradite him to face trial in New York. The State secretary issued a warning to the Cuban regime, which was close to Maduro, as well.
“The Cuban government is a huge problem,” Rubio said when asked if Cuba is the “next target” after Venezuela. “I&#8217;m not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now in this regard, but I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime.”
Rubio pointed out that the Cuban government played a significant role in “propping up” Maduro as the illegitimate president of Venezuela. President Donald Trump’s first administration <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-national-security-advisor-ambassador-john-bolton-venezuela/">declared</a> Maduro a “dictator” with an “illegitimate claim to power” in January 2019 following the previous year’s election “viewed internationally as not free, fair or credible.”
&#8220;One of the untold stories here is how, in essence – you talk about colonization because I think you said [Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez] mentioned that – the ones who have sort of colonized, at least inside the regime, are Cubans,” said Rubio. “It was Cubans that guarded Maduro. He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards, he had Cuban bodyguards.”
“In terms of their internal intelligence, who spies on who inside to make sure there are no traitors, those are all Cubans,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Welker: Is the Cuban government the next target?
Rubio: The Cuban government is a huge problem
Welker: Is that a yes?
Rubio: I think they are in a lot of trouble. Yes <a href="https://t.co/ywgfKsbGWu">pic.twitter.com/ywgfKsbGWu</a>
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) <a href="https://twitter.com/Osint613/status/2007841895196873065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
Rubio’s comments followed some made on Saturday after the operation in which he said that Cuba had colonized Venezuela “from a security standpoint” because of the Cuban influence in Maduro’s security and intelligence community.
“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned, at least a little bit,” <a href="https://x.com/visegrad24/status/2007520380903403721">said</a> Rubio on Saturday.
Cuba released a <a href="https://cubaminrex.cu/en/cubas-strong-condemnation-cowardly-us-aggression-against-venezuela-and-its-absolute-support-sister">statement</a> following the U.S. military operation, condemning Maduro’s capture and calling for his immediate release.
“This is a blatant imperialist and fascist aggression with objectives of domination, aimed at reviving U.S. hegemonic ambitions over Our America, rooted in the Monroe Doctrine, and at achieving unrestricted access to and control over the natural wealth of Venezuela and the region,” the statement said. “All nations of the region must remain alert, as the threat hangs over all.”
Trump and some of his top officials have suggested in the wake of the Venezuela operation that the Western hemisphere is the United States’ sphere of influence. In addition to Cuba, specific remarks and threats have been made toward Colombia and Mexico because of the influence of drug cartels on those countries, similar to Venezuela.

Marco Rubio

After Venezuela, Rubio Says Cuba Is ‘In A Lot Of Trouble’

Cuba

Donald Trump

Venezuela

CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan attempted to set a trap for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding to know why the United States had only moved against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro while other wanted narco-terrorists were left in power.
Rubio, who made several Sunday morning appearances across multiple media networks, walked Brennan through the strategy behind taking on one mission at a time — all while also pointing out the fact that the media reaction to a broader mission would have been much more dramatic: &#8220;Imagine the howls!&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Secretary of State Marco Rubio just took CBS’ Margaret Brennan to the woodshed on live TV over the Maduro raid.
“I don’t know why that’s confusing to you.”
Brennan spiraled over the fact that the operation did not seize EVERY narco terrorist in Venezuela, but Rubio hit her with… <a href="https://t.co/6AtPJowG8A">pic.twitter.com/6AtPJowG8A</a>
— Overton (@overton_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/overton_news/status/2007844450509132161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Referencing Maduro&#8217;s arrest on Saturday, Brennan noted that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration had left a number of others — who had also been designated as narco-terrorists — holding power of some sort in the Venezuelan regime.
&#8220;The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place,&#8221; Brennan said. &#8220;I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco terrorist regime?”
&#8220;You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you. I mean, it’s very simple,&#8221; Rubio pushed back, but Brennan interrupted.
&#8220;They’re still in power!” she protested.
“You’re not going to go in and &#8230; you&#8217;re going to go in and suck up five people?” Rubio&#8217;s tone was incredulous. “They are already complaining about the one operation! Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people.”
“We got the top priority,&#8221; Rubio continued. &#8220;The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted.”
“That was a pretty sophisticated and frankly, complicated operation,&#8221; Rubio said, and Brennan voiced her agreement as he explained, &#8220;It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base. Land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets.”
“That’s not an easy mission and you’re asking me why didn’t we do that in five other places at the same time?&#8221; Rubio asked. “I mean, that’s absurd!”

CBS News

Rubio Runs Circles Around CBS Anchor On Venezuela: ‘I Don’t Know Why That’s Confusing’

Rubio Runs Circles Around CBS Anchor On Venezuela: 'I Don't Know Why That's Confusing'

Global Politics

Margaret Brennan

narco-terrorism

Nicolas Maduro

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday clarified President Donald Trump&#8217;s claim that the United States will &#8220;run&#8221; Venezuela, stressing that it will not involve seizing control of the government or deploying American troops.
Rubio spoke with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on &#8220;This Week,&#8221; where he clarified some of the statements Trump made after Saturday&#8217;s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro — in particular his claim that the United States would &#8220;run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sec. Rubio on how the U.S. is currently operating in Venezuela: “The armada of boats that are currently positioned allow us to seize any sanctioned boats coming into or out of Venezuela, loaded with oil or on its way in to pick up oil, and we can pick and choose which ones we go… <a href="https://t.co/TSAhCujoi6">pic.twitter.com/TSAhCujoi6</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/2007830366388682785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;So is the United States running Venezuela right now?&#8221; Stephanopoulos asked.
&#8220;What we are running is the direction that this is going to move moving forward,&#8221; Rubio replied. &#8220;We have leverage. This leverage we are using — and we intend to use, and we have started using already.&#8221;
&#8220;The armada of boats that are currently positioned allow us to seize any sanctioned boats coming into or out of Venezuela, loaded with oil or on its way in to pick up oil, and we can pick and choose which ones we go after. We have court orders for each one,&#8221; he added.
While Rubio <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/04/rubio-explains-how-us-might-run-venezuela-after-maduros-ouster-.html">assured Stephanopoulos</a> that the United States would keep all options on the table — including additional military action, should the Trump administration deem it necessary — he said that the goal was to bring Venezuela around using sanctions and the leverage that came with them.
&#8220;What’s going to happen here is we have a quarantine on their oil. That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met, and that’s what we intend to do,” Rubio explained. “That leverage remains, that leverage is ongoing and we expect that it’s going to lead to results here.&#8221;
Rubio made a similar statement on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; telling host Kristen Welker that the United States was using leverage to effect policy changes, not taking control of the nation&#8217;s government.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> on &#8220;running&#8221; Venezuela: &#8220;It&#8217;s running POLICY&#8230; We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it&#8217;s good for the people of Venezuela, it&#8217;s in our national interest.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Y3oA2YNiar">pic.twitter.com/Y3oA2YNiar</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2007821006161817788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It&#8217;s running POLICY,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it&#8217;s good for the people of Venezuela, it&#8217;s in our national interest.&#8221;

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on the 2026 Budget In House Hearing

‘It’s About Policy’: Rubio Says Plans To ‘Run’ Venezuela Don’t Include U.S. Government Control

'It's About Policy': Rubio Says Plans To 'Run' Venezuela Don't Include Direct Government Control

Sanctions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid into the &#8220;experts&#8221; who&#8217;ve criticized President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration for forcibly removing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, saying that they were &#8220;clowns&#8221; who had little knowledge of what was really going on in the South American nation.
Rubio explained the situation to NBC News anchor Kristen Welker during a Sunday morning appearance on &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; arguing that to leave Maduro in place would be to risk American interests and even national security.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a>: The &#8220;experts&#8221; are clowns. Venezuela looks nothing like Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Middle East — other than the Iranian agents running through there plotting against America. These are Western countries. People need to stop ascribing apples to oranges. <a href="https://t.co/QeotP0YPwq">pic.twitter.com/QeotP0YPwq</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2007830531136704558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Number one, most of the experts that people have on television —  I watch these experts, and it&#8217;s clown hour,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;These are people that have focused their entire career on the Middle East, or some other part of the world because that&#8217;s where all the action was.&#8221;
&#8220;Very few of them know anything about Venezuela or the western hemisphere,&#8221; he continued, noting that the political dynamics in western cultures were very different than in the Middle East. &#8220;Venezuela looks nothing like Libya, it looks nothing like Iraq, it looks nothing like Afghanistan. It looks nothing like the Middle East — other than the Iranian agents running through there plotting against America. These are western countries with long traditions among their — at a people to people and cultural level, and ties to the United States, so it&#8217;s nothing like that.&#8221;
Rubio said that it was no different than comparing apples and oranges — and that it was foolish to think that experts who had focused on the Middle East would have much insight into the current situation. He went on to say that the moves the Trump administration had made — and was still making — with regard to Venezuela were in pursuit of protecting national interests.
&#8220;What I&#8217;m confident of is we are in a safer and better place because we&#8217;re taking it seriously,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;The alternative would have been to leave Maduro there as an indicted drug trafficker, an illegitimate president, running the country — an open invitation for all of our adversaries to do whatever they want against the United States from Venezuela. That was not going to continue.&#8221;
&#8220;Read the indictment,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;This guy used the levers of their security apparatus not to arrest drug traffickers, but to cooperate and facilitate the trafficking of drugs for the purpose of getting them into the United States.&#8221;

Secretary Marco Rubio Meets With Ecuadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld

Marco Rubio Trashes ‘Experts’ Who Know Nothing About Venezuela: ‘It’s Clown Hour’

Marco Rubio Trashes 'Experts' Who Know Nothing About Venezuela: 'It's Clown Hour'

Politics

For those who accuse the Trump administration of expansionist ambitions because of the attack on Venezuela that achieved the extradition of the tyrannical dictator and faux president Nicolás Maduro, it would be instructive to remember who the real expansionist was: Maduro.
Maduro had designs on the <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/essequibo-pressure-cooker-runaway-nationalism-and-maduros-compellence-strategy">Essequibo region</a> — an oil-resource-rich territory in Guyana — which comprises two-thirds of Guyana’s territory. Despite a long-standing status quo, Maduro had laid claim to the region following the discovery of massive offshore oil deposits by an ExxonMobil-led consortium.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;Trump&#39;s capture of Maduro is IMPERIALISM! How dare he!&quot;
Maduro tried to annex something like 3/4s of the neighboring country of Guyana just last year because oil was discovered offshore. But please tell me more about the horrors of imperialism <a href="https://t.co/aGSkOscmc9">pic.twitter.com/aGSkOscmc9</a>
&mdash; Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) <a href="https://twitter.com/willchamberlain/status/2007664156686651397?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In 2023, Maduro accused Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali of “hypocrisy and false victimization,” adding, “President Irfaan Ali, enough of lies and of trying to hide the historical truth that weighs on the dispute over the Essequibo territory, whose only means of resolution, as you well know, is the Geneva Agreement of 1966. The steps your government is taking violate international legality and jeopardize peace in the region.”
That was a lie; the 1966 Geneva Agreement <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20561/volume-561-I-8192-English.pdf">stated</a> that if Venezuela and Guyana did not resolve the issue, “they shall refer the decision as to the means of settlement to an appropriate international organ upon which they both agree or, failing agreement on this point, to the secretary-general of the United Nations.”
Guyana did exactly that, as the Voice of America <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/fact-check-venezuelan-maduro-baselessly-accuses-guyana-s-ali-of-violating-treaty-of-geneva/7290690.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">reported</a>.
Maduro’s strategy included referendums and legislative moves aimed at the &#8220;defense&#8221; of Essequibo, which international bodies like the OAS and CARICOM labeled illegal and a &#8220;crime of aggression.&#8221; In addition, Venezuelan naval vessels entered disputed waters near ExxonMobil’s operations.
In response to these expansionist moves, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.wsls.com/business/2025/03/27/rubio-visits-guyana-as-part-of-his-caribbean-tour-to-promote-energy-independence-and-curb-migration">issued</a> explicit, high-stakes warnings to the Venezuelan &#8220;narco-trafficking regime.&#8221; In March 2025, on a Caribbean tour to strengthen ties and promote energy independence, he stated that aggressive action by Venezuela “would be a very bad day for Venezuela,” emphasizing consequences for “adventurism” and aggression.
Rubio’s strategy included:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Military Cooperation: Signing security agreements to enhance intelligence sharing and conducting joint naval exercises between the U.S. Navy and Guyana.</li>
<li>Economic Pressure: Implementing severe sanctions and tariffs on countries that imported Venezuelan oil, aiming to dismantle the regime’s financial lifeblood.</li>
<li>Strategic Alliances: Promoting Guyana as a key partner to wean the Caribbean off Venezuelan energy, effectively neutralizing Maduro’s regional influence.</li>
</ul>
Meanwhile, Maduro’s then-vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, maintained that Venezuela would never cede its claim.

Protest In Caracas In Support Of Nicolas Maduro After Being Labelled By The US Government As The Leader Of “Cartel De Los Soles”

Maduro Was The Real Expansionist Threat — Not The Trump Administration

Guyana

Oil and Gas

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear on Saturday that world leaders and bad actors should pay attention to President Donald Trump&#8217;s words, because when he says something, he means it.
&#8220;I hope people now understand,&#8221; Rubio posted to X. &#8220;The President of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you he&#8217;s going to do something and address a problem, he means it.&#8221;
After the administration successfully pulled off <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/general-razin-caine-breaks-down-incredible-details-of-operation-to-capture-maduro?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=General+‘Razin’+Caine+Breaks+Down+Incredible+Details+Of+Operation+To+Capture+Maduro">Operation Absolute Resolve</a> and captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Rubio said during a press conference that Trump isn&#8217;t just bluster &#8212; which should be abundantly clear.
&#8220;This is a president of action,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand how they haven&#8217;t figured this out. And, now, if you don&#8217;t know, now you know.&#8221;
&#8220;This is the way it&#8217;s going to play out, and I think people need to understand this is not a president that just talks and does letters and press conferences &#8212; if he says he&#8217;s serious about something, he means it.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I hope people now understand. The President of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you he&#8217;s going to do something and address a problem, he means it. <a href="https://t.co/bVhtqcoPWP">pic.twitter.com/bVhtqcoPWP</a>
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/2007528891288826023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
The official White House X account had some fun with Rubio&#8217;s message, posting a spliced video mocking the now-captured Maduro. The footage shows Maduro calling a former political opponent a &#8220;coward,&#8221; before cutting to Rubio&#8217;s &#8220;now you know&#8221; line while showing an image of Maduro in cuffs.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible c-link--underline" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The Trump administration said Maduro was offered numerous &#8220;off ramps&#8221; but refused to surrender, prompting the operation for the dictator&#8217;s arrest.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
If you don’t know, now you know 🦅 <a href="https://t.co/XrIps1OzY4">pic.twitter.com/XrIps1OzY4</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/2007557671705293009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made a similar point, saying that Trump, with this recent capture, was fulfilling campaign promises &#8212; something the president has been doing since he was sworn into office.
&#8220;President Trump is a decisive and strong leader who does EXACTLY what he says he’s going to do,&#8221; she posted. &#8220;During his historic campaign in 2024, President Trump explicitly promised that he would work to &#8216;demolish foreign drug cartels&#8217; to keep our citizens safe and that’s exactly what he did today through an unprecedented display of speed, precision, and power.&#8221;
Leavitt noted that former President Joe Biden &#8220;pathetically sat by and allowed our country to become a dumping ground for corrupt regimes in countries like Venezuela.&#8221;
The press secretary added that Trump&#8217;s latest moves are what &#8220;America First is all about.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump is a decisive and strong leader who does EXACTLY what he says he’s going to do.
During his historic campaign in 2024, President Trump explicitly promised that he would work to “demolish foreign drug cartels” to keep our citizens safe and that’s exactly what he… <a href="https://t.co/2oz4rEwLfn">pic.twitter.com/2oz4rEwLfn</a>
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/2007544513590636769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/general-razin-caine-breaks-down-incredible-details-of-operation-to-capture-maduro?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=General+‘Razin’+Caine+Breaks+Down+Incredible+Details+Of+Operation+To+Capture+Maduro">General ‘Razin’ Caine Breaks Down Incredible Details Of Operation To Capture Maduro</a>

President Trump Meets With NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte In The Oval Office

Rubio’s Message To World After Venezuela Strike: ‘If You Don’t Know, Now You Know’

Trump Administration

World

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>
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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>
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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.

US-IRAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-TRUMP

Trump And Rubio’s Best America First Wins Of 2025

2025

America First

Foreign Policy

The State Department sanctioned five European figures in the &#8220;global censorship-industrial complex&#8221; on Tuesday, barring them from entering the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the move is in response to European &#8220;ideologues&#8221; who have sought to clamp down on Americans&#8217; free speech. He added that the list could be expanded to other European leaders if they continue their censorship actions.
&#8220;For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,&#8221; Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2003547575580815814">said</a>. &#8220;Today, @StateDept will take steps to bar leading figures of the global censorship-industrial complex from entering the United States. We stand ready and willing to expand this list if others do not reverse course.&#8221;
The sanctions do not include financial penalties, but the five individuals targeted have had their U.S. visas denied. They are European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton, a Frenchman; Imran Ahmed, a British chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate; British businesswoman Clare Melford, who leads the Global Disinformation Index; and Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, who both lead the German group HateAid.
Breton helped create the European Commission&#8217;s Digital Services Act, which establishes regulations requiring social media companies to prevent what the European Union deems illegal content and misinformation. The Digital Services Act was recently used to punish Elon Musk&#8217;s X, a move condemned by the Trump administration.
Ahmed&#8217;s Center for Countering Digital Hate has been accused of colluding with the Biden administration and social media companies to censor Americans, especially during the COVID pandemic. The Biden administration referred to the British nonprofit&#8217;s &#8220;disinformation dozen&#8221; list, which called out 12 accounts on Facebook that it accused of producing 65% of anti-vaccine &#8220;misinformation&#8221; on the platform, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/us/politics/biden-facebook-social-media-covid.html">reported</a>. One of those 12 accounts belonged to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now President Donald Trump&#8217;s Health and Human Services secretary, <a href="https://x.com/UnderSecPD/status/2003567950541058394">according</a> to Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers.
The Global Disinformation Index, led by Melford, was funded through a program used by the Biden administration to target &#8220;misinformation&#8221; until Rubio shuttered it earlier this year. It placed American media outlets on a “Dynamic Exclusion List” that was distributed to advertisers and named mainstream publications like the New York Post, Reason Magazine, The Daily Wire, and the Federalist as &#8220;risky,&#8221; The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-shutters-misinformation-censorship-agency-salts-the-earth">reported</a>. The Daily Wire has an active lawsuit against the State Department, alleging that it suppressed conservative media outlets on social media under former President Joe Biden.
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Ballon and Hodenberg&#8217;s HateAid is considered a &#8220;trusted&#8221; censor under the Digital Services Act and has routinely targeted Right-wing voices, according to the State Department. Earlier this year, Ballon was interviewed on &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/60Minutes/status/1891284163845628348">60 Minutes</a>&#8221; and said, &#8220;Free speech needs boundaries … Without boundaries, a very small group of people can rely on endless freedom to say anything that they want, while everyone else is scared and intimidated.&#8221;
French President Emmanuel Macron <a href="https://x.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/2003781877165879782">condemned</a> the United States over the travel bans, saying, &#8220;These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.&#8221;
Trump and Rubio have recently called out Europe over its social media censorship and its targeting of American social media companies. Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-issues-stark-warning-about-europes-free-speech-erosion-and-how-it-could-affect-americans">told</a> The Daily Wire last week that he is “concerned” that “freedom of expression” is “eroding” in Europe.
“Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested? We’re also concerned about the impact that some of their policies are having on our social media platforms,” he said.
Trump, meanwhile, issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europe-has-to-be-very-careful-trump-issues-stern-warning-after-eu-fines-elon-musks-x">warning</a> to Europe after the European Commission fined X earlier this month.
“Look, Europe has to be very careful,” Trump said. “They’re doing a lot of things. … Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad for the people.”

State Department Bans Five Europeans From Entering U.S. After They Helped Censor Americans

Europe

European Union

Free Speech

Social Media

State Department

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is “concerned” that “freedom of expression” is “eroding” in Europe, he told The Daily Wire at his year-end press conference on Friday.
Rubio said that his top priority is situations where “American free speech could be implicated.”
“Are we going to live in a world where some American puts up a social media post and then gets to some airport somewhere and is arrested? We&#8217;re also concerned about the impact that some of their policies are having on our social media platforms,” he said.
Freedom of speech concerns in Europe have garnered the attention of the United States under the Trump administration, as the State Department said in a post on X in July, “In Europe, thousands are being convicted for the crime of criticizing their own governments. This Orwellian message won&#8217;t fool the United States. Censorship is not freedom.” The post was in response to the French Mission of United Nations said that in Europe, people are &#8220;free to speak, not free to spread illegal content.”
In the United Kingdom, roughly 30 people a day are arrested over “offensive online messages,” according to <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/police-make-30-arrests-a-day-for-offensive-online-messages-zbv886tqf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times</a>. In addition, groups across the political spectrum like the Alliance Defending Freedom and Amnesty International, have sounded the alarm for years over free speech woes, including in countries like France.
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“As you recently saw, you know, X is facing this massive multi-million dollar fine that they&#8217;re going to have to pay, I guess, because they want to continue to operate,&#8221; Rubio continued.
The secretary then dived into the importance of working with nations in Europe because of shared “values and principles,” including freedom of speech, which is what makes the concerns paramount.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europe-union-ignored-free-speech-concerns-plows-ahead-with-global-censorship-regime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported last month on how the European Commission did not factor in censorship risks when it came to the Digital Services Act, which has tech companies pay up for allowing “illegal content” or disinformation to not be effectively counteracted.
“I think the concerns on free speech are very substantive, and they need a robust response, and we feel that the European Commission has not actually conducted a robust review in the sense of actually inviting all voices and all partners to the table,” Dr. Adina Portaru, a senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International, told The Daily Wire in an interview at the time.
“The DSA can impact anyone, can impact content creators and influencers and preachers and political dissidents and any kind of content online can be regulated by the DSA through its architecture,” she added.

US-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-RUBIO

Rubio Issues Stark Warning About Europe’s Free Speech Erosion And How It Could Affect Americans

Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid waste to the notion that the State Department existed as a failsafe that could potentially serve as a check on the White House: &#8220;That&#8217;s ridiculous. That&#8217;s stupid, really.&#8221;
Rubio gave reporters a brief civics lesson on Friday, explaining that it was his job to serve at the will of the President of the United States and to implement the foreign policy vision of the president and his administration, not undermine the president if they were ever at odds over any specific issue.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 JUST IN: INCREDIBLE mic drop from Sec. Marco Rubio. BOOM! 🔥
&#8220;The Constitution does not say you elect the President and then you put in place a State Department to undermine the President if the person who&#8217;s the Secretary of State doesn&#8217;t agree with him. That&#8217;s ridiculous.… <a href="https://t.co/Z1slwgvNW0">pic.twitter.com/Z1slwgvNW0</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2002066653719261463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The State Department is not its own government,&#8221; Rubio began, adding that the Secretary of State could not therefore act unilaterally to implement his own policies in place of those laid out by the president.
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&#8220;At the end of the day, the person the people of the United States elected to be the President of the United States and the Commander-in-Chief is Donald J. Trump. That&#8217;s who they elected. And my job, and the job of the people in our administration, is to implement the President&#8217;s foreign policy,&#8221; he explained, adding that his role was often to advise the president on how to best implement his policies, but it was never to supplant them with his own. &#8220;Why people think that somehow foreign policy can be divorced from our republic? That&#8217;s not the way our Constitution works.&#8221;
Rubio continued the civics tutorial, adding, &#8220;The Constitution does not say you elect the President and then you put in place a State Department to undermine the President if the person who&#8217;s the Secretary of State doesn&#8217;t agree with him. That&#8217;s ridiculous. That&#8217;s stupid, really. I don&#8217;t know why anybody would think that. So that&#8217;s the job I have, and that&#8217;s the job I&#8217;m proud to do.&#8221;

Marco Rubio Destroys Argument That State Department Should Check The President

Marco Rubio Absolutely Destroys Argument That State Department Should Check The President

Media

The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trove-of-critical-minerals-uncovered-in-the-utah-desert-9bc509f9/">reports</a> that Ionic Mineral Technologies (Ionic MT) has recently uncovered what may be one of the most significant critical-mineral reserves in the United States while mining clay at Utah’s Silicon Ridge.
Originally leasing the land to produce nanosilicon for lithium-ion batteries, the company unexpectedly identified high-grade concentrations of 16 critical minerals, including lithium, alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium, niobium, and scandium. Independent testing confirmed the deposit is a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay, similar to geological formations in China that supply a major share of global rare-earth output.
Because the deposit is shallow, accessible, and located on pre-permitted land with extensive infrastructure, Ionic MT says extraction could begin quickly. CEO Andre Zeitoun argues the find has far-reaching implications for national security, as these minerals are indispensable for advanced semiconductors, electric vehicles, fighter jets, and artificial-intelligence hardware.
The discovery comes amid heavy geopolitical tension over China’s control of critical mineral markets. China produces roughly 70% of the world’s rare earths and processes about 90%, giving it enormous leverage over global supply chains. Recent Chinese export restrictions have alarmed American industry and policymakers, though a temporary one-year delay won through recent trade negotiations offers a short window for the United States and allies to expand production and processing capacity.
It is this strategic vulnerability that has galvanized Marco Rubio’s leadership on the issue. In July 2024, in another move to counter Communist China, Rubio introduced the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4702">Critical Mineral Supply Chain Realignment Act of 2024</a>. imposing aggressive, escalating tariffs on Chinese-controlled electromagnets, permanent magnets, batteries, solar components, and other key technologies. Tariffs would reach 800% on Chinese goods, while non-allied nations would face 25% duties, all designed to push supply chains toward American and allied producers.
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Rubio argued that the United States must break China’s “critical mineral industrial monopoly,” warning that Beijing’s near-total control of end-to-end supply chains — mining, refining, and magnet production — posed economic and national-security dangers.
Rubio has also spearheaded bipartisan pressure — partnering with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and others — <a href="https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/b/7/b77b564b-9f1b-47db-9d54-9d020d91ffc4/5FE33019DC7A2ED1E156EBA22FB39351.11.16.23-senate-critical-mineral-letter-to-amos-hochstein-final.pdf">urging</a> the White House and the Export-Import Bank to prioritize financing for domestic and allied processing, refining, and metallurgical capacity. Their joint letters emphasized that demand for critical minerals was soaring while the United States remained dangerously dependent on China, which often controls “nearly 100%” of the entire supply chains. They argued that only rapid investment, coordinated with allies such as Australia, could counter China’s dominance.
Utah’s newly revealed deposit — supported by the state’s already diverse critical-mineral portfolio — represents not just an industrial opportunity but a strategic asset. State leaders echo Rubio’s warnings: securing reliable domestic sources of these minerals is essential for U.S. energy independence, defense needs, and long-term technological competitiveness.

Robotic arm giving a CPU to another robot

Huge Utah Mineral Find Gives U.S. New Firepower Against China’s Supply-Chain Grip

rare earth minerals

Utah

The Biden administration’s State Department went full DEI on its diplomats — so full that it changed the official typeface of America’s foreign service, a problem that has been rectified by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In 2023, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following the sage advice of the department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, decreed that all official communications ditch the venerable Times New Roman font and adopt the modern, sans-serif Calibri. The rationale? Accessibility. Calibri, with its soft curves and wide spacing, is supposedly easier for readers with dyslexia, low vision, or those using screen readers. The Biden administration decided that the shape of letters could save the planet — or at least make it slightly easier for a diplomat to decipher a memo.
Enter Rubio, who on Tuesday <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/us/politics/rubio-state-department-font.html">dropped</a> the bureaucratic hammer: Calibri was canceled. Times New Roman, back in all its serif glory, was reinstated, 14-point and all.
Rubio’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/rubio-stages-font-coup-times-new-roman-ousts-calibri-2025-12-09/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">cable</a> to all American diplomatic posts, titled, “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” stated, “To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface. &#8230; This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications.”
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Rubio called the Calibri switch “wasteful” and “the degradation of the department’s official correspondence.” Serif fonts, he pointed out, have gravitas, history, and small decorative strokes — small strokes that apparently signal “professionalism” to anyone who matters in international diplomacy. Calibri, by contrast, was informal and clashed with official letterhead.
The lengths the Biden administration went to in the name of DEI here are almost comical. Not content with conventional anti-discrimination or accessibility programs, they weaponized typography, tinkering with letter shapes and point sizes — moving from 14 to 15 points — for the supposed benefit of readers who might struggle with letters. Accessibility advocates cheered; traditionalists grimaced.
Rubio’s reversal reads like a return to classical civilization, citing Roman antiquity and the script on the side of Air Force One as justification for reinstating serifs. The underlying story is less about fonts than about the extreme lengths to which the Biden administration pursued DEI, turning even the most mundane elements of office life — point sizes, font shapes, the very appearance of text — into battlegrounds for ideology.
Under Biden, DEI became so pervasive, so absurdly detailed, that the font on your official memo wasn’t just about readability — it was a statement, a policy, and, apparently, a revolutionary act. Rubio just undid it, and the world of diplomacy is back to serif conservatism.

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