U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called &#8220;troubling&#8221; a report by five European allies blaming Russia for killing late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using toxin from poison dart frogs, adding that Washington had no reason to question it.
&#8220;We obviously are aware of the report. It&#8217;s a troubling report. We&#8217;re aware of that case of Mr. Navalny and certainly&#8230; we don&#8217;t have any reason to question it,&#8221; Rubio told reporters at a news conference in Brastislava during a visit to Slovakia.
In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands on Saturday said analyses of samples from Navalny&#8217;s body &#8220;conclusively&#8221; confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and not found naturally in Russia.
The Russian government, which has repeatedly denied any responsibility for Navalny&#8217;s death while he was held in an Arctic penal colony two years ago, dismissed the latest allegations as &#8220;a Western propaganda hoax,&#8221; according to Russia&#8217;s state news agency TASS.
When asked why the United States did not join the statement, Rubio said this was an endeavour by them.
&#8220;Those countries came to that conclusion. They coordinated that. We chose &#8211; doesn&#8217;t mean we disagree with the outcome. We just, it wasn&#8217;t, our endeavor. Sometimes countries go out and do their thing with based on the intelligence they&#8217;ve gathered.&#8221; Rubio said.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not disputing or getting into a fight with these countries over it. But it was their report, and they put that out there,&#8221; he added.
Russian opposition leader Navalny died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024, after being convicted of extremism and other charges, all of which he denied.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Jan Lopatka; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Susan Fenton)

Secretary Of State Marco Rubio

Rubio Says U.S. Does Not Dispute Navalny Poisoning Assessment By Europeans

Alexei Navalny

Global Politics

Marco Rubio

Murder

Russia

Vladimir Putin

World

Secretary of State Marco Rubio used his first appearance at the Munich Security Conference to deliver a call for a renewed “Western century” grounded in sovereignty, industrial power, borders, and civilizational confidence.
“The euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion,” Rubio said, describing the post-Cold War belief that history had ended and that liberal democracy would inevitably spread. “That every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order would replace the national interest.”
“This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And it has cost us dearly.”
Rubio contrasted that worldview with what he described as the lived consequences of Western policy choices: deindustrialization, weakened defense capacity, and economic dependence on adversaries who never shared the West’s assumptions.
“In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade,” Rubio said, “even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours—shuttering our plants, deindustrializing large parts of our societies, shipping millions of working- and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.”
Rubio argued that energy policy in particular had become an exercise in self-harm “to appease a climate cult.” He added, “We have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas—not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.”
Rubio also rejected the framing common in recent Munich conferences that mass migration is primarily a humanitarian challenge rather than a civilizational one.
“In a pursuit of a world without borders,” he warned, “we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.”
“Controlling who and how many people enter our countries,” Rubio continued, “is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty.”
On national security, Rubio explicitly rejected modern abstractionist framing. “The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending?” he said. “Because armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a people. Armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life.” That way of life, Rubio argued, is not interchangeable with other systems, nor should it be treated as morally neutral among equals.
“We are part of one civilization—Western civilization,” he said. “Bound by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and sacrifice.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It is time to unshackle our ingenuity and build a new Western century. <a href="https://t.co/KJjGQ24bCd">pic.twitter.com/KJjGQ24bCd</a>
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/2022644331878793376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rubio’s speech also departed sharply from Biden-era deference to multinational institutions. While stopping short of calling for their abandonment, he argued that they have repeatedly failed on the most pressing security challenges of the age.
“The United Nations could not solve the war in Gaza. It did not solve the war in Ukraine. It was powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran,” Rubio said, crediting American military and diplomatic leadership with producing results.
“In a perfect world, these problems would be solved by diplomats and strongly-worded resolutions,” he added. “But we do not live in a perfect world.”
Rubio said plainly that the United States under President Trump intends to pursue renewal, and invites Europe to do the same. The future, Rubio concluded, depends on whether Western nations choose pride over guilt, sovereignty over submission, and renewal over retreat.
“We have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline,” Rubio said. “What we want is a reinvigorated alliance—one that is not paralyzed by fear, but bold enough to race into the future.”

Secretary Marco Rubio Meets With Ecuadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld

Rubio Declares ‘New Western Century’ In World Speech, Says America Won’t Oversee ‘Managed Decline’

Germany

Globalism

Trump Administration

WASHINGTON—When President Donald Trump heads to Beijing this spring, he&#8217;ll have the opportunity to do what pretty much no one else in the world can: convince Chinese President Xi Jinping to free Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy newspaper publisher and media tycoon imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party.
The 78-year-old Lai was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison under a national security law used by the Chinese Communist Party to crack down on dissenters. At his age, and with his declining health, the CCP&#8217;s sentence means he&#8217;ll die in prison.
Lai is a Chinese-born British citizen who published &#8220;Apple Daily&#8221; in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Chinese authorities arrested top executives at the publication and froze its assets in 2021, and, after a two-year trial and five-year detention, Lai was convicted in December 2025 of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.
Authorities paint him as &#8220;the mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator,&#8221; celebrating the 20-year-sentence.
His daughter, who advocates on her father&#8217;s behalf in the United States, describes him very differently. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Claire Lai praised her father&#8217;s courage in the face of oppression. She shared that he mails her letters from prison — letters that include prayers of deep faith and acceptance, offering his sufferings up to Jesus Christ and encouraging his fellow prisoners to do the same.
&#8220;From the very first day I went to visit him, I remember I was very emotional,&#8221; Claire told The Daily Wire. Her father comforted her, she says, by telling her that &#8220;he&#8217;s in God&#8217;s good hands, and he&#8217;ll find ways to serve him from behind bars.&#8221; 
&#8220;I know that God will continue to give him the strength to persevere in faith,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We need to persevere in fighting for his freedom.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1041709" style="width: 429px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041709" rel="attachment wp-att-1041709"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041709" class="wp-image-1041709 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai. " width="419" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-419x576.png 419w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-218x300.png 218w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM-768x1055.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.59.53-AM.png 1026w" sizes=" (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" /></a>Claire Lai with her father Jimmy Lai.</div>
Trump has said that he will do everything he can to save Lai. He will head to Beijing in April, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/04/trump-and-chinas-xi-speak-by-phone-ahead-of-beijing-trip-00764343">POLITICO reports</a> (though the White House says dates have not yet been finalized), where Lai&#8217;s family hopes the president will make the case for their father&#8217;s freedom.
“I feel so badly,” Trump said in December after Lai&#8217;s conviction. “I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release. He’s not well. He’s an older man and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”
On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the Hong Kong High Court’s decision to sentence Lai to 20 years, calling it &#8220;an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case.&#8221; Rubio urged the authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole, arguing that Lai and his family &#8220;have suffered enough.&#8221;
&#8220;It shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration,&#8221; Rubio said.
Asked by The Daily Wire about Lai&#8217;s fate during the White House press briefing Tuesday, Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2021301791229411718?s=20">suggested that the president may advocate for Lai</a> in April.
“This is something I&#8217;ve heard the President advocate for, both publicly and privately,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I had the honor of being in that meeting with President Trump and President Xi in South Korea that took place, and this was brought up by the President himself. It is important to him, and he looks forward to visiting China in April.”
Lai&#8217;s daughter is incredibly grateful for the strong American interest in her father&#8217;s plight and hopeful that American intervention might save her father.
&#8220;We are extremely grateful,&#8221; she said, &#8220;to [Trump] and to his administration, [that has] a proven track record of freeing those [who] were unjustly detained abroad and doing so with a high degree of success. We are just hopeful that our father will be one of them.&#8221; 
Lai&#8217;s friends and family have highlighted his plight for years. Claire&#8217;s brother Sebastian Lai lives in London, where he leads the international campaign to free his father. Her mother remains in China and was present at Jimmy&#8217;s sentencing on Monday.
In interviews, they describe how he was arrested and detained, and forced to spend more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement.
China&#8217;s 2020 National Security Law is so vaguely worded and so arbitrarily applied that Claire Lai knows she could face retribution for speaking out in her father&#8217;s defense while in China. She has lived in the United Kingdom and the United States for the past few years as she begs the world to help save her father.
She takes great solace in her Catholic faith, which she shares with both her mother and her father. Jimmy Lai is a Catholic convert with a deep love for Jesus Christ. His daughter shares that he used to draw pictures of Jesus Christ on the cross for other prisoners until he was told by his prison guards that he was no longer permitted to do so.
From prison, he writes to his daughter, offering her prayers of comfort and solace.
&#8220;The day that [British Prime Minister Keir Starmer] flew to China, I was feeling quite uneasy,&#8221; she reflected to The Daily Wire, recalling the day that Starmer went to China to meet with President Xi. She went to mass at Immaculate Conception Church, a parish in Washington D.C., and prayed for the strength to accept whatever happened to her father.  
&#8220;A few days later I got a letter from Dad,&#8221; she shared, &#8220;and in his letters he sends me his prayers and he basically echoed what I was feeling in that moment&#8230;he was in our Lord&#8217;s good hands.&#8221; 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041967" rel="attachment wp-att-1041967"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1041967 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png" alt="" width="1024" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-1024x360.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-300x106.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081-768x270.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3081.png 1199w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
&#8220;I think that that&#8217;s what has seen him through the last few years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And at times it&#8217;s really just our good Lord which has seen him through the bad days.&#8221; 
Claire Lai shared copies of her father&#8217;s prayers exclusively with The Daily Wire, prayers in which Jimmy Lai surrenders his future to Jesus Christ, asking Jesus Christ to &#8220;work in me and through me.&#8221;
<blockquote>
You are the all-seeing, all-knowing God. Your eyes, oh Lord, are in every place&#8230;You are present and conscious of all I think, every deed or act, however slight, every word, however quick&#8230;every thought of my heart, however secret, however momentary. However forgotten, you see, O Lord, you see and note down&#8230; “Whither shall I go from your Spirit?” (Ps 139:7) I am in your hands, O Lord, absolutely.
</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041969" rel="attachment wp-att-1041969"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1041969 size-large aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png" alt="" width="821" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-821x576.png 821w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-300x210.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079-768x539.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/IMG_3079.png 1282w" sizes=" (max-width: 821px) 100vw, 821px" /></a>
In another prayer, Jimmy Lai acknowledges the longevity of his imprisonment thus far, offering his sickness and confusion up for &#8220;some great end which is quite beyond us&#8221; and arguing that Jesus Christ &#8220;does nothing in vain.&#8221;
<blockquote>
We are all created to His glory. We are created to do His will. Therefore: I will trust him&#8230;if I am sick; my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him. My sickness or my perplexity or my sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end which is beyond us. He does nothing in vain. Lord, deign to fulfill your high purposes in me whatever they may be. Work in me and through me.
Cheers, Dad.
</blockquote>
And in yet another letter, he tells his daughter that his suffering over the past few years has brought him closer to God.
<blockquote>
I am actually most grateful for God to have put me through this suffering in order for me to get closer to His presence. What a joy and treasure for this life and next. God’s action confounds us but always turns out to be marvellous for us.
</blockquote>
Lai&#8217;s daughter is also deeply religious, mentioning multiple Catholic saints during her conversation with The Daily Wire, including Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned by Nazis in Auschwitz who offered to die in the place of another prisoner. When she is particularly worried about her father, she shared, she goes to mass in the evenings and receives the Eucharist, which is a huge source of comfort to her.
&#8220;In that moment I know what Maximilian Kolbe meant,&#8221; she said, quoting the Catholic martyr, who is remembered saying: “If angels would be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”
&#8220;It&#8217;s exactly what I needed, and I think it was our good Lord giving me comfort. I don&#8217;t think anyone can convince me otherwise. I know he&#8217;s giving my father strength to persist in faith.&#8221;
For Catholics, receiving the Eucharist at Mass is of pivotal importance, since Catholics believe that receiving the Eucharist allows the faithful to be closely united with Jesus Christ himself. But for about two and a half years, Claire says, her father was denied the Eucharist in prison. The Chinese government told them that he was receiving the Eucharist regularly, but she insists they were lying.
&#8220;I counted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He received it, in 2.5 years, a total of 11 times. That is not regular.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041687" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041687" rel="attachment wp-att-1041687"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041687" class="wp-image-1041687 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-456234504.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter Jimmy Lai attends a rally near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014.  (Photo by ALEX OGLE/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Outside pressure occasionally leads to better treatment for her father, but over the past five years, his treatment has gone from bad to worse. She speaks to him through physical letters that they mail to each other. She writes to him about once a week, but often doesn&#8217;t receive his responses for up to a month as they are processed.
His health is failing him. He has been diabetic for over 30 years, and throughout his imprisonment, Claire and the rest of his family have watched Jimmy&#8217;s pre-existing health conditions worsen due to a lack of care. She says his blood sugar is checked once every three weeks, and he&#8217;s developed new health conditions — heart issues, blood pressure problems, an enlarged spleen, and more.
The United Kingdom and the United Nations have requested that the Chinese government send an independent consultant in to check on him, she says, but that has been rejected.
&#8220;We are extremely worried for his health and the conditions in which he&#8217;s kept,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;His body is failing, but he is such a spirited man.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_1041713" style="width: 856px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1041713" rel="attachment wp-att-1041713"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041713" class="wp-image-1041713 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png" alt="Claire Lai with her parents. " width="846" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-846x576.png 846w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-300x204.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-768x523.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM-1536x1046.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11.57.52-AM.png 1924w" sizes=" (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px" /></a>Claire Lai with her parents.</div>
Jimmy Lai is imprisoned with a number of other political prisoners in Hong Kong, his daughter shared. Many of them are not Catholic or even Christian, and Jimmy has sought to convert his fellow prisoners by drawing the crucifixion for them.
&#8220;On the other side, he would write instructions on how to pray, sometimes what to read, and sometimes he would ask me to get certain books, or get the Bishop Barron&#8217;s &#8216;Word on Fire&#8217; for them,&#8221; she explained, referring to the work of Bishop Robert Barron. 
&#8220;One day, the guards told him that he has to stop sending it to prisoners because some people have decided to convert as a result,&#8221; she said sadly. 
There was one agnostic prisoner, imprisoned a few months after her father, who was struggling intensely with his new life in prison. His distress finally prompted him to ask Jimmy for help learning how to pray, she said, and the two men began exchanging letters back and forth. Her father drew a picture of Jesus Christ crucified for the agnostic prisoner, telling him, according to his daughter, that &#8220;when the suffering gets too much for you, just pretend like you&#8217;re hiding under his feet, and offering your suffering up to him.&#8221; 
&#8220;That would make it all better,&#8221; Claire says, &#8220;because&#8230;if you&#8217;re looking for God&#8217;s grace, you really don&#8217;t have to look far.&#8221; 
The other prisoner wasn&#8217;t immediately convinced. But one day, Claire says, her father got a letter from the prisoner, saying: &#8220;I know what you mean now.&#8221;
&#8220;That really touched me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have always been Catholic, but if I was agnostic and I was going through a whole different, and intense suffering, I&#8217;m not sure if I could have done that, but he did.&#8221;
That is the legacy Jimmy Lai will be remembered for in his Hong Kong prison, by his family, and by his many supporters throughout the world: a man who prayed through his suffering and taught others to pray with him.
His daughter is still hopeful that he will be freed. Yet, at the same time, she knows that the grief-stricken past few years have taught her exactly what he wished.
&#8220;At the start of his imprisonment he said all he wanted was for us, his children, to see the reality of the world through the grace and mercy of God,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I am reminded that is what he always did.&#8221;

Jimmy Lai Collage

Why Donald Trump’s Visit To Beijing Could Decide Jimmy Lai’s Fate

China

Donald Trump

Jimmy Lai

In 2015, then-Senator Marco Rubio delivered a forceful and prophetic floor speech in the United States Senate, offering a scathing critique of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. Rubio’s address was not merely a political disagreement but a historical warning as he sought to document his opposition for posterity, predicting that the agreement would fundamentally destabilize the Middle East and jeopardize American national security.
Rubio’s primary contention was that the deal provided Iran with a massive influx of capital through sanctions relief, which the regime would inevitably funnel into its military infrastructure. He warned that Tehran would use these resources to develop &#8220;anti-access&#8221; capabilities — specifically advanced rockets and &#8220;swarm&#8221; boats designed to threaten U.S. naval assets and aircraft carriers. By raising the &#8220;price of presence&#8221; for American forces, Rubio argued, Iran sought to eventually force a total U.S. withdrawal from the region. Furthermore, he predicted that the regime would continue its development of long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching the American mainland, as these were not restricted by the agreement.
&#8220;Iran is led by a Supreme Leader who is a radical Shia cleric with an apocalyptic vision of the future,&#8221; he warned. &#8220;He is not a traditional geopolitical actor who makes decisions on the basis of borders, or simply history, or because of ambitions. He has a religious apocalyptic vision of the future — one that calls for triggering a conflict between the non-Muslim world and the Muslim world, one that he feels especially obligated to trigger.&#8221;
Rubio drew an ominous parallel to North Korea, describing a future where a nuclear-armed Iran would become &#8220;immune&#8221; to military intervention. He argued that once the regime achieved nuclear status, the cost of a preemptive strike would become prohibitively high, leaving the world hostage to a &#8220;radical Shia cleric with an apocalyptic vision.&#8221; Unlike traditional geopolitical actors, Rubio emphasized, Iran’s leadership is driven by a religious ideology that views conflict with the non-Muslim world as a spiritual obligation. He framed the deal as a &#8220;terrible mistake&#8221; that would leave a dangerous legacy for future generations.
To address these perceived fatal flaws, Rubio proposed several rigorous amendments to the legislation reviewing the deal. These included the &#8220;Israel Recognition Amendment,&#8221; which would have barred sanctions relief until Iran recognized Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. He also introduced a &#8220;Terrorism Certification Amendment&#8221; to link sanctions relief to the cessation of Iranian-sponsored terrorism against Americans. Additionally, Rubio demanded the full disclosure of &#8220;side deals&#8221; between Iran and international monitors and advocated for &#8220;anytime, anywhere&#8221; inspections to replace the &#8220;managed access&#8221; protocol of the JCPOA.
Ultimately, Rubio’s 2015 remarks served as a call for a return to &#8220;crippling&#8221; sanctions backed by a &#8220;credible threat of military force.&#8221; He concluded with a hopeful nod toward the American Republic, praying that future leaders in the executive branch would have the resolve to reverse the deal.
Now serving as Secretary of State, Rubio is in a unique position to help implement the very &#8220;maximum pressure&#8221; and strict verification standards he championed a decade ago, as the United States navigates a renewed era of tension with the Iranian regime.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Listen to <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@marcorubio</a>’s 2015 speech explaining why he opposed the JCPOA. Nearly everything he warned about has already happened. What hasn’t, is clearly underway.
Now the clock is louder than ever. Donald Trump has a once in a generation choice: shut down the Islamic Republic’s… <a href="https://t.co/SkJqHvNIJu">pic.twitter.com/SkJqHvNIJu</a>
— ثنا ابراهیمی | Sana Ebrahimi (@__Injaneb96) <a href="https://twitter.com/__Injaneb96/status/2019480770608525412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing On U.S. Strategy Against ISIS

He Warned Them: Marco Rubio’s Prophetic 2015 Case Against The Iran Nuclear Deal

Iran

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Friday that any new U.S. nuclear treaty must reflect the rapid expansion of China&#8217;s nuclear arsenal. 
Rubio’s comments come a day after the New START Treaty, which limited deployed strategic nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, officially expired. He argued that any replacement framework should address a new era beyond the Cold War model, one that recognized both Russia and China as nuclear peers. 
“A treaty requires at least two parties, and the choice before the United States was to bind itself unilaterally or to recognize that a new era requires a new approach. Not the same old START, but something new. A treaty that reflects that the United States could soon face not one, but two, nuclear peers in Russia and China,” he <a href="https://statedept.substack.com/p/the-next-era-of-nuclear-arms-control">wrote</a> on the State Department’s Substack page. 
Rubio said China&#8217;s nuclear stockpile has nearly tripled since 2020, growing from the low 200s to almost 600, with projections topping 1,000 warheads by 2030. 
“China’s rapid and opaque expansion of its nuclear arsenal since New START entered into force has rendered past models of arms control, based upon bilateral agreements between the United States and Russia, obsolete,” Rubio wrote. “An arms control arrangement that does not account for China’s build-up, which Russia is supporting, will undoubtedly leave the United States and our allies less safe.”
President Donald Trump has accused China of conducting secret nuclear tests. Under Secretary of State Thomas DiNanno <a href="https://x.com/UnderSecT/status/2019714341344362507">said</a> Friday on X that China had used a technique called &#8220;decoupling&#8221; to mask nuclear explosive tests by reducing the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, including one conducted on June 22, 2020.
Rubio also criticized Russia, noting that Moscow announced in 2023, amid its war with Ukraine, that it would stop recognizing the New START Treaty. Although Russia later said it would continue observing the treaty&#8217;s limits, the agreement capped deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550. 
“Russia and China should not expect the United States to stand still while they shirk their obligations and expand their nuclear forces. We will maintain a robust, credible, and modernized nuclear deterrent,” Rubio wrote. “But we will do so while pursuing all avenues to fulfill the President’s genuine desire for a world with fewer of these awful weapons.”
Ahead of New START’s expiration, President Donald Trump said he wanted a broader nuclear agreement that could include other countries like China. In a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116019511106186158">post</a> on Thursday, Trump criticized the Obama-era deal as poorly negotiated.
“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump wrote.

President Trump Meets With Visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Rubio Warns China’s ‘Rapid’ Nuclear Buildup Is Making U.S. ‘Less Safe’

Nuclear Weapons

Politics

State Department

Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is working to form a trading bloc with allies and partners throughout the world to stabilize critical mineral markets and counter China&#8217;s dominance.
Vance stressed the importance of forming the critical minerals trading alliance with global partners to diversify supply, &#8220;while strengthening the partner countries who help all of us in this shared effort.&#8221;
Most of the world relies heavily on China for critical minerals that are used for everyday tech items like smartphones and computers, and also for vital military equipment. China controls around 70% of rare earth mining and 90% of rare earth processing.
&#8220;This morning, the Trump administration is proposing a concrete mechanism to return the global critical minerals market to a healthier, more competitive state, a preferential trade zone for critical minerals protected from external disruptions through enforceable price floors,&#8221; Vance said.
Vance made the remarks to representatives from over 50 countries at the inaugural <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4eeZ4ctK4">Critical Minerals Ministerial</a>, which was hosted by the U.S. Department of State. The event was held just two days after President Donald Trump announced a new initiative called &#8220;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/introducing-project-vault-a-critical-mineral-stockpile-for-american-businesses-%F0%9F%92%8E%F0%9F%87%BA%F0%9F%87%B8/">Project Vault</a>,&#8221; which aims to create a stockpile of critical minerals to protect American companies and consumers from shortages and changes in the critical mineral supply chain.
The vice president said it&#8217;s a priority for the Trump administration to stop foreign companies and governments from flooding the market with &#8220;cheap critical minerals to undercut our domestic manufacturers.&#8221; The &#8220;preferential trade zone&#8221; would set up reliable production centers and supply chains that could not be affected by outside actors, such as China, according to Vance.
Following Vance&#8217;s remarks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told those attending the event that he hopes the gathering &#8220;will lead to not just more gatherings, but action.&#8221; Rubio added that the United States &#8220;outsourced manufacturing&#8221; to such a degree that it &#8220;outsourced our economic security and our very future.&#8221;
&#8220;We were at the mercy of whoever controlled supply chains for these minerals,&#8221; Rubio added. &#8220;So, my hope is that we are gathered here today as the first but important step to rectifying this mistake — to bring together our collective talent for innovation.&#8221;
The Trump administration has already announced <a href="https://ustr.gov/about/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2026/february/ambassador-jamieson-greer-announces-critical-minerals-cooperation-european-union-and-japan">agreements</a> with Japan, Mexico, and the European Union to develop a critical mineral supply chain.
“Today’s announcement is an important signal that the world’s largest market-oriented economies are committed to developing a new paradigm for preferential trade in critical minerals,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. “Through the development of these Action Plans, we will lay the groundwork for a binding plurilateral agreement on trade in critical minerals with like-minded partners.&#8221;
As U.S. leaders gathered with representatives from dozens of countries to discuss critical minerals, President Trump said he had an &#8220;excellent telephone conversation&#8221; with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump said he and Xi discussed numerous issues, including trade, Taiwan, the Ukraine-Russia war, and China&#8217;s potential purchase of American oil and gas.
&#8220;The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116013105630663812">wrote</a>. &#8220;I believe that there will be many positive results achieved over the next three years of my Presidency having to do with President Xi, and the People’s Republic of China!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Project Vault&#8221; plan will be funded with a <a href="https://www.exim.gov/news/project-vault">$10 billion</a> loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, along with another $1.67 billion in private capital.

JD Vance

White House Aims To Counter China With Critical Minerals Alliance Of Over 50 Countries

Some stupid people in the Senate decided to make a spectacle of themselves yesterday when they hosted Secretary of State Marco Rubio to give testimony about Venezuela before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Secretary Rubio is very, very good at his job. And so many of these senators are not.
One of the amazing things about American politics is how many Americans believe there are true conspiracies operating at a high level in American politics. All you have to do is meet our senators and members of Congress in order to know how dumb this is.
Politics is significantly more like “Veep” than it is like “House of Cards.”
Illinois Democrat senator Tammy Duckworth — not one of the sharper tools in the drawer — had a spat with Rubio on whether war needed to be declared in order to perform strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean.
“These non-state actors, who possess state-like capabilities in terms of their weaponry, pose a grave danger to the United States,” Rubio stated. “I don’t think any American would dispute that we have cartels that pose a threat to the United States.”
“You&#8217;re saying that he (President Trump) can invoke this wartime power?” she queried, adding that the wartime power had only been invoked three times: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
“I&#8217;m here to discuss foreign policy and what&#8217;s in the realm of the Department of State,” Rubio replied. “I think your question would be better directed at the Department of Justice. &#8230; You&#8217;re asking me a question about the domestic application of a law that&#8217;s best directed to the Department of Justice.”
“It’s not a complication,” she said, somehow confusing words.
“I can tell you that the United States is most certainly confronting terrorist and criminal organizations operating in our hemisphere that pose a grave danger to the United States. Anyone who believes that gangs that flood our country with fentanyl or cocaine are not threats to the United States, is not living in reality, and certainly does not reflect the opinion of most Americans,” he fired back.
Owned.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2357-new-tape-pretti-s-not-so-nonviolent-ice-protest-past?elementPosition=2&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Then there was Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is just a mockery. Every time you see him, you think to yourself,  “It&#8217;s not possible for him to become more of a cucumber with eyeballs.” And yet there he is, becoming more of a cucumber with eyeballs, straight from the garden.
Van Hollen suggested it was oil executives pushing the change in Venezuela, saying, “ Mr. Secretary, simple yes or no question: Were you with President Trump during any of those conversations he had with people with oil interests in Venezuela about the possibility of deposing Maduro?”
“That&#8217;s not a simple yes or no question, but I can answer quickly,” Rubio responded. “And that is the president always elicits opinions from all sorts of people, including, for example, Chevron has an active license in Venezuela. They operate in Venezuela. They&#8217;ve been doing so even when the sanctions were in place. So of course you would ask Chevron, “What is your opinion of Delcey Rodriguez?” “What is your opinion of their economy and of their prospects?” But the notion that somehow the president authorized this challenge at the urging of oil executives is absurd. That never happened.”
“Mr. Secretary, I&#8217;m asking whether you were with the president?” Van Hollen persisted.
“That never happened. I couldn&#8217;t be with him because it never happened,” Rubio fired back. “The oil executives were not involved whatsoever in any of the planning on this matter.”
Owned.
By the way, Senator Chris Van Hollen, if you&#8217;re going to ask a question you don&#8217;t already know the answer to, you&#8217;re doing it wrong. (That is the first rule of lawyering: Don&#8217;t ask questions for which you don&#8217;t already know the answer.)
Rubio went on to make clear that criminal organizations are endemic to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, saying:
<blockquote>We have a real reality in our region of these trans-national criminal terrorist organizations — that in many cases possess weapons that you ascribe to a nation state, not to a gang — who pose a grave threat to the national security of the United States, but also to the stability of the region. If you walk through the region, what is the primary threat in Colombia? Transnational criminal organizations. What is the threat to Mexico? What is the threat to the Caribbean basin? 
These groups have to be confronted. They have to be confronted forcefully. What&#8217;s the threat in Haiti? The systemic collapse. And that is these criminal gangs that basically control territory and threaten the ability to even form a government there in that regard. So it&#8217;s endemic throughout the region, and it ultimately impacts the United States through mass migration, through drug trafficking and other related criminal organizations. And so we need to have a force posture that can confront that.  </blockquote>
Senator Rand Paul, on the Republican side of the aisle, targeted Rubio over the Venezuela operation, calling it unconstitutional. “If a foreign country bombed our air defense missiles, captured and removed our president and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war?” he asked. 
“I will acknowledge you&#8217;ve been very consistent on all these points the entire career, no matter who&#8217;s in charge. I will point to two things. The first is it&#8217;s hard for us to conceive that an operation that lasted about 4.5 hours and was a law enforcement operation to capture someone we don&#8217;t recognize as a head of state, indicted in the United States, or wanted with a $50 million bounty —” Rubio began.  
“If it only took four hours to take our president, very short, nobody dies on the other side. Nobody dies on our side. It&#8217;s perfect. Would it be an act of war?” Paul asked. 
“We just don&#8217;t believe that this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition of a war,” Rubio asserted. 
“But would it be an act of war if someone did it to us? Nobody dies. Few casualties. They&#8217;re in and out. Boom. It&#8217;s a perfect military operation. Would that be an act of war? Of course, it would be an act of war. I&#8217;m probably the most anti-war person in the Senate, and I would vote to declare war if someone invaded our country and took our president. So I think we need to at least acknowledge this is a one-way argument, one-way arguments that don&#8217;t rebound, that you can&#8217;t apply to yourselves, that cannot be universally applicable, are bad arguments,” Paul contended. 
Here’s why Senator Paul’s argument is bad: Who cares whether Venezuela considers it an act of war? The question is whether, constitutionally, you require a declaration of war in order to do this thing. Is it a war for the United States to perform a law enforcement grab-and-snatch of a person we do not recognize as the legitimate, rightful leader of a country? Do we need to declare war in America?  
Who cares what Venezuelans think about it? I don&#8217;t care what Nigerians think about. I don&#8217;t care what Israelis think about it. I don’t care what anybody thinks about it. We&#8217;re Americans; the American Constitution applies.  
The question that ought to be asked is not whether we would consider it an act of war if somebody did it to us; if we did, we would then have to wait and go through the constitutional mechanisms of declaring war. That&#8217;s what the question is about. It is not whether what we just did to Venezuela is an adversarial action. Of course it&#8217;s an adversarial action. The question is, constitutionally speaking, do you have to declare war in order to do this thing? Not whether in some random Platonic universe this is considered a definitional “act of war.”
That&#8217;s the point Rubio was making: Make the case that the operation constitutes a war under the definition of war in the Constitution, as opposed to a policing action or a law enforcement action.
It&#8217;s a cheap rhetorical trick that Senator Paul used there.
Rubio was asked about Cuba and said the Trump administration would not involve itself in an active regime change in Cuba. They would, of course, love to see the regime fall.
Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz asked, “Will you make a public commitment today to rule out U.S. regime change in Cuba?”
“Regime change?” Rubio answered. “Oh, no. I think we would love to see the regime change. That doesn&#8217;t mean that we&#8217;re going to make a change, but we would love to see a change. There&#8217;s no doubt about the fact that it would be of great benefit to the United States if Cuba was no longer governed by an autocratic regime.” 
“But you know what we mean by regime change,” Schatz persisted.  “We don&#8217;t mean I wish someone else were in charge. When we talk about regime change, we&#8217;re talking about using the power of the United States, usually kinetic power, but often other kinds of coercion. I&#8217;m not even saying that that&#8217;s always not in our interests; I&#8217;m just saying, I&#8217;m not asking you whether we would prefer a different kind of government. I&#8217;m asking whether you are trying to precipitate the fall of the current regime.”
“Yeah, but that&#8217;s statutory. The Helms-Burton Act, the U.S. embargo on Cuba, is codified. It was codified in law, and it requires regime change in order for us to lift the embargo,” Rubio pointed out.
Owned.
Senator Tim Kaine, the long-forgotten vice presidential candidate for Hillary Clinton, went after Rubio because Donald Trump supposedly said Iceland and not Greenland in his Davos speech. “We&#8217;re not mad at Iceland. They haven&#8217;t cost us any money. The president just mistook the two countries for each other, correct?” Kaine said.
Rubio then gave a deathless, hilarious reply, with a wink at the recent past: “Yeah, he meant to say Greenland. But I think we&#8217;re all familiar with the presidents who have verbal stumbles. We&#8217;ve had presidents like that before, some made a lot more than this one.”
Owned.
Rubio was also asked about Iran and again pointed out that the people of Iran deserve better than the current leadership:
<blockquote>And the core problem they face, unlike the protests you saw in the past on some other topics, is that they don&#8217;t have a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy’s in collapse. And the reason why there&#8217;s economies and collapse is because they spend all their money and all their resources building weapons and sponsoring terrorist groups around the world, instead of reinvesting it back into their society and as a result, have taken on massive global sanctions, which has isolated their economy and their country.
And so that&#8217;s what the Iranian people are demanding, is that they stop doing that and start caring about them and get these sanctions off of them, and this regime is unwilling to do it. So the core challenges, the protests may have ebbed, but they will spark up again in the future because this regime, unless they are willing to change and or leave, has no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better. </blockquote>
Has there ever been a better Secretary of State?

US-VENEZUELA-CONFLICT-POLITICS-CONGRESS-RUBIO

The Adult In The Room: Rubio Owns The Senate

Ben Shapiro

Chris Van Hollen

Oil and Gas

Opinion

Rand Paul

U.S. Senate

Venezuela

Chaos persists in Minnesota as state officials continue to defy federal authorities in a high-stakes showdown, President Donald Trump publicly warns Iran to “come to the table” as U.S. warships arrive in the region, and new data shows the American population growth fell dramatically last year.
It’s Thursday, January 29, 2026, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Minnesota Chaos Continues</h2>
Chaos continues in Minnesota as state officials continue to defy the White House in a high-stakes showdown over ICE operations. Fingers on both sides of the aisle are pointing at Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey for fanning the flames. Around 200 activists stormed into the Minnesota Capitol on Tuesday. They were angry that Governor Tim Walz met with border czar Tom Homan. They demanded charges against the agents who shot protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good. The activists went into Walz&#8217;s office in what they called a “slow march” for immigration justice, shouting slogans like “ICE out now!” and “No one is illegal,” “Abolish ICE,” and other statements. The White House has attempted to negotiate with Minnesota’s elected officials. Homan met with top officials, including Mayor Frey. But Frey, who continues to uphold Minneapolis&#8217;s sanctuary city policies, has insisted that local police will not cooperate with ICE and will not give them access to their jails. Frey said bluntly that Minneapolis “does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Threatens Iran And Rubio Testifies In Senate</h2>
On Wednesday, President Trump publicly warned Iran to “come to the table” after U.S. warships arrived in the region. And on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the president’s foreign policy to skeptical lawmakers. Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran needs to make a deal or risk “major destruction,” far worse than Operation Midnight Hammer in June. Rubio testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and gave an additional rationale for moving more military assets into the Middle East. “We have 30,000 to 40,000 American troops stationed across 8 or 9 facilities in that region. … All are within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian one-way UAVs and Iranian short-term ballistic missiles,” <a href="https://x.com/StateDept/status/2016575448499569001">said</a> Rubio. “We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility.” Rubio also defended the Trump administration’s Venezuela policy, saying it is seeking progress toward democratic elections in the country, but without risking regional destabilization.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">U.S. Population Growth Plummets</h2>
Amid President Trump’s border crackdown and mass deportation effort, new data shows the United States population growth fell dramatically last year. This week, the Census Bureau released new data showing that last year, the U.S. population grew by just 1.8 million, or 0.5%. With the exception of 2021, when COVID was at its peak, last year saw the slowest population growth in the history of the United States. The previous year, the United States grew by 3.3 million people, so roughly a 50% decline in one year. These numbers run from July 2024 to July 2025, so President Trump was only in office for half of that time. If the current pace holds, it’ll be an even more dramatic dip this coming year.

MRN_260129_V1

Morning Brief: Minnesota ICE Showdown Escalates, Trump Warns Iran & U.S. Population Growth Collapses

Census Bureau

Minnesota

Morning Wire

Tim Walz

Tom Homan

United States

The State Department will freeze immigrant visa processing for the citizens of dozens of nations over welfare concerns.
The department announced on Wednesday that it will stop processing visas for 75 countries. The Trump administration plans to enact the pause because migrants from the countries in question “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.”
“The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the department <a href="https://x.com/StateDept/status/2011478657680757214">said</a>.
“The pause impacts dozens of countries – including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea – whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival,” the statement continued. “We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused.”
The freeze is scheduled to go into effect on January 21. The pause will not affect non-immigrant visas, nor temporary tourist or business visas, which allow people to come to the United States on a temporary basis.
The freeze comes after investigations and public reporting has raised the prospect that fraudsters in Minnesota, especially from the Somali community in the Twin Cities area, have bilked taxpayers for billions of dollars in social service funding.
The freeze is just the latest action taken by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to restrict the number of immigrants allowed into and residing in the United States. The Secretary has previously taken steps to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rubios-state-department-yanks-more-than-6k-student-visas-due-assault-burglary-support-terrorism">revoke</a> the visas of immigrants in the United States who have expressed support for terror groups or committed crimes.
The Trump administration has also <a href="https://time.com/7341347/travel-ban-immigration-countries/">restricted</a> the ability of residents of dozens of other countries to enter the United States. Last month, President Donald Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/12/restricting-and-limiting-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals-to-protect-the-security-of-the-united-states/">order</a> adding 20 additional countries to a list that included 19 others setting restrictions and limits on nationals’ ability to travel to the United States. The countries on the restricted list include some in Latin America, such as Venezuela and Cuba.

State Department Freezes Immigrant Visas For 75 Countries Over ‘Unacceptable Rates’ Of Welfare

Immigration

The White House&#8217;s meeting with Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday did not change any minds on President Donald Trump&#8217;s push to acquire Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen spoke at a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn824zzp670t#player">press conference</a> alongside Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt after meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Denmark oversees Greenland&#8217;s defense while the territory is largely self-governing. In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up his push to make Greenland a territory of the United States for national security purposes.
The meeting on Wednesday was &#8220;frank and constructive,&#8221; but ultimately the sides agreed to disagree, with Denmark sticking firm to its &#8220;red lines,&#8221; according to Rasmussen.
&#8220;We, the Kingdom of Denmark, continue to believe that also the long-term security of Greenland can be ensured inside the current framework, the 1951 agreement on the defense of Greenland as well as the NATO treaty,&#8221; he said. &#8220;For us, ideas that would not respect the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable.&#8221;
&#8220;We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree,&#8221; Rasmussen added.
Motzfeldt said that it remains important for Greenland to &#8220;strengthen our cooperation with the United States, but that doesn&#8217;t mean that we want to be owned by the United States.&#8221;
Denmark and Greenland agreed to continue the discussions to see &#8220;if we can find a common way forward,&#8221; the Danish foreign minister said. The discussions are expected to continue in the coming weeks. Rasmussen said he agreed with the Trump administration&#8217;s concerns about the security situation in the Arctic, but added that he does not see China and Russia representing an &#8220;instant threat.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s no Chinese presence in Greenland, but there&#8217;s a concern: would that be the case in 10 or 20 years from now?&#8221; Rasmussen asked. &#8220;It will not because our Greenlandic friends have introduced investments &#8230; and Denmark is, by all means, on the right side of history.&#8221;
Trump disagrees and has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-greenland-is-non-negotiable-for-u-s-security?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump%3A+Greenland+Is+Non-Negotiable+For+U.S.+Security">argued</a> that if the United States doesn&#8217;t take control of Greenland, &#8220;Russia or China will.&#8221;
“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it,&#8221; Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday morning. Trump argued that NATO would also be safer if the United States made a move on Greenland.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,&#8221; Trump said.
As Denmark and Greenland met with the White House, multiple NATO countries <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-nato-allies-expand-military-presence-around-greenland?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=European+NATO+Allies+Expand+Military+Presence+Around+Greenland">said</a> that they would expand their military presence around Greenland.

US-DENMARK-GREENLAND-DIPLOMACY-DEFENCE

Denmark Maintains ‘Fundamental Disagreement’ With Trump On Greenland After White House Meeting

Denmark Maintains 'Fundamental Disagreement' With Trump On Greenland After Meeting With Vance, Rubio

Denmark

Greenland

President Donald Trump argued on Wednesday morning that Greenland is &#8220;vital&#8221; for his plans to build a &#8220;Golden Dome&#8221; of defense to protect the United States as he ramps up his push for the United States to acquire the territory.
Trump also said that NATO would benefit from the United States controlling Greenland, arguing it would keep Russia and China at bay. The president made his early morning comments on Greenland as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepare to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-greenland-face-vance-high-stakes-meeting-2026-01-14/">meet</a> with Denmark&#8217;s and Greenland&#8217;s foreign ministers at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts to acquire the large territory. Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with control over most domestic affairs, while Denmark has authority over foreign policy and defense.
&#8220;The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115893255826342514">wrote</a>.
&#8220;Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent — Not even close! They know that, and so do I,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-reveals-new-details-about-golden-dome-missile-defense-system-to-protect-u-s">Golden Dome for America</a>&#8221; would set up a missile defense system encircling the United States, a much larger version of  Israel&#8217;s &#8220;Iron Dome.&#8221; The president hopes to complete the $175 billion defense project by the end of his term. Trump said the &#8220;Golden Dome&#8221; would complete the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; defense plan conceived by former President Ronald Reagan. The first $25 billion for the plan was appropriated under Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221;
“Once fully constructed, the golden dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space, and we will have the best system ever built,” Trump said in May.
In the past month, Trump has focused much of his attention on acquiring Greenland, an idea he floated a few times last year. On December 21, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-taps-republican-governor-as-special-envoy-to-greenland-make-greenland-a-part-of-the-u-s">appointed</a> Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry to serve as special envoy to Greenland, saying that Landry “understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”
Trump told reporters at the White House last week that the United States would &#8220;do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.&#8221; He said the United States would take control of Greenland the “easy way” — by making a deal — or the “hard way,” which he didn’t elaborate on. The White House has not ruled out using military force to achieve its goals with Greenland.
On Sunday, the president again <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-u-s-must-acquire-greenland-to-stop-russia-or-china-from-taking-control">stressed</a> the importance of the United States taking control of Greenland, adding that he was &#8220;not going to let&#8221; Russia or China invade the territory. Trump said he &#8220;would love&#8221; to make a deal with Denmark, which oversees Greenland, to acquire the territory. Leaders in Denmark and Greenland, however, have opposed Trump&#8217;s push to take control of Greenland.

Trump: Greenland Is Non-Negotiable For U.S. Security

U.S.

In 1823, President James Monroe stood before Congress and warned European powers that if they intervened in the American hemisphere, the United States would send them packing.
Two centuries after the great Virginian elucidated what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, his successor has launched a new standard for American foreign intervention, not with a speech, but with a series of decisive actions.
Over the past few months, President Donald Trump has ratcheted up American attacks on Venezuelan drug cartels, dubbing them “narcoterrorists” and striking their boats. Things reached a fever pitch earlier this month when an elite military unit captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to stand trial for his crimes.
In a press conference following the daring early-morning raid in Caracas, Trump acknowledged that his approach to foreign policy went far beyond the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine.
“They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine,’&#8221; the president said. &#8220;American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.&#8221;
This was more than just another clever Trump-era nickname. In the first year of his second term, Trump has shed the isolationism that mostly defined his first administration, opting instead for targeted, precise foreign operations designed to topple or contain America’s enemies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio—who has long warned about Latin America’s socialist regimes, transnational cartels, and foreign adversaries—has emerged as a central architect and enforcer of the doctrine.
What began with the use of “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities is now playing out in Central and South America, and Maduro may only be the tip of the iceberg.
Trump has <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/03/trump-venezela-mexico-00710063" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Colombian President Gustavo Petro of “making cocaine” and warned that he “does need to watch his a**” following Maduro’s capture. He’s warned Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that the United States may intervene if she can’t control the cartels running her country. And he’s pledged to cut Cuba off from its supply of Venezuelan oil, potentially setting the stage for intervention on the communist-ruled island.
The Donroe Doctrine sits between the isolationist and interventionist schools that have long vied for control of American foreign policy. Trump has long criticized American interventionism and does not view his actions as launching more long, unwinnable, resource-draining wars in faraway lands. He sees the Donroe Doctrine as asserting hemispheric hegemony through swift action.
But the Donroe Doctrine isn’t just speaking softly and carrying a big stick, as President Theodore Roosevelt once put it — it’s swinging that stick to assert American power across the Western Hemisphere.
“Operation Absolute Resolve,” the mission that led to Maduro’s capture, underscores this point. The massive joint strike launched from more than 20 bases, involving 150 aircraft, cyber operations to cripple Venezuelan defenses, and the coordinated use of special forces and helicopters to seize Maduro.
Trump did not mince words when he offered his explanation for the move: he wanted to stop the flow of drugs that are killing Americans and wanted U.S. oil companies the opportunity to rebuild in Venezuela after having their assets nationalized two decades ago.
Venezuela is ruled by a socialist regime allied with Russia, indebted to China, smuggling oil with Iran in defiance of U.S. sanctions, and working with Hezbollah to launder money. It is no wonder, then, that Trump showcased American military might to intervene in Venezuela and assert the Monroe Doctrine.
To boil the Donroe Doctrine down to one sentence: bad actors in the Western Hemisphere will no longer operate with impunity.
The Donroe Doctrine is about more than combating bad actors, however. It also involves strategic plays that will benefit American interests, often advanced through the president’s trademark dealmaking mindset.
Consider Trump’s first major foreign policy move of this term: asserting influence over the Panama Canal.
In his inaugural address, Trump said he was “taking back” the canal, citing Chinese influence and accusing the United States of being “ripped off” by fees for using the canal it helped build. After intense diplomatic pressure, American military vessels gained priority and discounted transit, while efforts to curb Chinese influence, including the planned sale of two ports owned by a Hong Kong-based company to BlackRock, are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/30/the-guardian-view-on-the-new-monroe-doctrine-trumps-forceful-approach-to-the-western-hemisphere-comes-at-a-cost#:~:text=Mr%20Trump's%20vociferous%20complaints%20about,the%20US%20investment%20firm%20BlackRock." target="_blank" rel="noopener">still underway</a>.
This month, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino <a href="https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/security/panama-president-mulino-says-crisis-with-the-us-is-over" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> last year’s crisis with the Trump administration officially over.
“Panama moved toward a relationship of respect, restored trust, joint work, and friendship, and the canal remained Panamanian, as it will indeed continue to be,” Mulino said to Panama’s National Assembly.
Trump’s pursuit of Greenland, which he says is vital for “national security” because of growing Russian and Chinese activity, is another example of the Donroe Doctrine in action. Greenland may be peaceful, but as an autonomous territory of Denmark, it relies on Copenhagen for defense — and Denmark can’t be trusted to fully secure such a strategic island.
Whether Trump seeks to annex Greenland or simply keep rivals away, he’s sending a clear message: every strategic corner of the Western Hemisphere matters under the Donroe Doctrine.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-GOP

What Is The ‘Donroe Doctrine,’ President Trump’s New Foreign Policy?

Foreign Policy

Nicolas Maduro

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