In a fiery exchange on ABC News’s “This Week,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a passionate defense of President Trump’s bold approach to negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia, calling out media bias and partisan hypocrisy.
Rubio argued that if a Democrat were leading the charge for peace, the press would be celebrating rather than criticizing the effort.
“Shouldn’t we all be happy that we have a president who’s trying to stop wars and prevent them instead of start them?” Rubio said during a tense back-and-forth with host George Stephanopoulos.
Rubio, never one to back down, pointed out the double standard in how Trump is being treated compared to past leaders.
“I just don’t get it. I really don’t, other than the fact that it’s Donald J. Trump,” he continued.
“If this was a Democrat that was doing this, everyone would be saying, ‘Well, he’s on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize,’” Rubio added. “This is absurd.”
Rubio forcefully defended Trump’s diplomatic strategy, emphasizing that this is a much-needed shift away from years of ineffective posturing and inflammatory rhetoric toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Unlike the reckless warmongering of past administrations, Trump’s approach prioritizes peace over provocation.
“We are trying to end a war,” Rubio stated. “You cannot end a war unless both sides come to the table, starting with the Russians. And that, that is the point the president has made. And we have to do whatever we can to try to bring them to the table to see if it’s even possible.”
The interview came on the heels of a high-stakes Oval Office meeting on Friday, where Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance confronted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The meeting became heated after Zelensky questioned Trump and Vance about Putin’s history of disregarding ceasefire agreements, and ended with the White House calling off a mineral deal which was expected to be signed that day.
The Trump administration, however, has remained firm in its commitment to pursuing diplomatic solutions, even in the face of resistance from the political establishment and mainstream media.
Rubio also took Stephanopoulos to task over the dishonest narrative that Trump is somehow “embracing” Putin, a claim peddled by establishment Republicans like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Stephanopoulos attempted to push Murkowski’s claim, but Rubio quickly shut him down.
“Well, which ones? What steps has the president taken to placate?” Rubio fired back as Stephanopoulos attempted to read Murkowski’s statement.
“Are we arming the Russians? Are we providing economic assistance to the Russians? Have we given the Russians $180 million? What are we doing to placate them?”
Murkowski, in a social media post, accused the Trump administration of refusing “to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine” and expressed feeling “sick” over what she described as an abandonment of U.S. allies. Rubio, however, dismissed such claims as politically motivated hysteria.
“We’re a free country, people have a right to these opinions,” Rubio responded.
“I would just say to you, what have we done to placate the Russians? The only thing we’ve done is say, are you guys willing to talk about peace?”
When Stephanopoulos attempted to criticize Trump’s foreign policy record by citing a recent UN vote, Rubio once again set the record straight.
“Do you know what the United Nations resolution was? I’ll tell you if you want to hear what it was,” Rubio said.
“It basically said this has been a horrible war. It’s time for it to end. The job of the U.N. is to bring about peace in the world. I thought that’s what the U.N. was created to do, to stop wars and to prevent them?”
“That’s what the resolution did. Was it antagonistic towards the Russians? No. Back to the point. But it also didn’t praise the Russians. All it said is this is a bad war. It needs to end,” Rubio added.
The United Nations General Assembly recently passed two competing resolutions on the Ukraine-Russia war, with the United States leading a Security Council resolution for the first time since Russia’s invasion began in 2022.
This marked a major shift in diplomatic efforts and reinforced the Trump administration’s commitment to brokering peace rather than fueling endless conflict.
Watch Trump’s meeting with Zelensky here:
Truth Rubio all the way
Stephanopoulos, what can I say about him that is good? Nothing, so I won’t say anything.
Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize merely for being elected, so the standard is not very impressive.