Marco Rubio seeks to heal divides with Europe as he rejects ‘end of the transatlantic era’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to paper over cracks in U.S.-Europe relations in a speech to the Munich Security Conference, even as foreign diplomats were less confident that real change would follow.
His direct appeal to Europe on Saturday is a marked departure from President Donald Trump’s bashing at Davos last month, where the leader claimed that parts of Europe were “destroyed” and that the United States had “never gotten anything” from the NATO alliance.
Rubio received a standing ovation for his warmer words in Munich, telling a largely European audience “in an era of headlines announcing the end of the transatlantic era, let it be clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”
In a speech aimed at reducing tensions over Greenland and threats of new tariffs, America’s top diplomat said the United States was not abandoning its oldest allies.
“The United States of America will once again take up the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past,” he said. “And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do it alone, we prefer and hope to do it with you, our friends here in Europe. For the United States and Europe, we stand together.”
The conference’s chairman, former German Ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger, who opened the meeting Friday with a harsh criticism of the administration’s policies, congratulated Rubio from the stage, telling him: “You heard a sigh of relief at what I interpreted as a message of reassurance about our partnership.”
Rubio’s speech was significantly more diplomatic than Vice President JD Vance’s harsh attack on European culture and politics at the same event a year ago. European leaders were relieved that the White House decided to send Rubio to the event, which vice presidents typically attended in the past.
But Democratic senators and some foreign diplomats in the room were skeptical that the speech reflected a real change in the Trump administration’s position.
Rubio sharply criticized Europe’s migration and climate policies in his speech, warning that “unprecedented” levels of mass migration threaten “the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture and the future of our people.”
He also denounced what he sees as the failures of the United Nations, saying the organization has “played virtually no role” in major world events, from Gaza to Ukraine, while he defended U.S. interventions in Venezuela and Iran.
He said the UN “was powerless to curb the nuclear program of radical Shiite clerics in Tehran, which required the dropping of 14 bombs with precision from American B-2 bombers, and was incapable of confronting the threat to our security emanating from a narco-terrorist dictator in Venezuela. Instead, it took American special forces to bring this fugitive to justice.”
Rubio was scheduled to meet briefly on Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has already met with the U.S. Senate’s large bipartisan delegation.
Speaking in Munich on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Russia was paying a high price for the war in terms of military losses and expressed hope for an end to the conflict, although he said he often felt the sides were talking about “different things” during negotiations.
Rubio said Saturday that “we don’t know” whether Russia really wants to end the war, telling the conference: “The good news is that the issues that need to be addressed to end this war have been narrowed down. The bad news is that they have been narrowed down to the most difficult questions to answer.”
Last night, Trump again put the onus on both sides, telling reporters, “It takes two to tango.”
