Marco Rubio India Visit: President Trump Is A Big Fan Of India And PM Modi | N18G

Ajouté : 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Anything new secretary?

[00:00:11]>> Anything?

[00:00:12]>> A heat wave. There's a heat wave.

[00:00:14]>> There is a heat wave.

[00:00:15]>> All right.

[00:00:15]>> Anything new on Iran?

[00:00:17]>> Um, we're still work in progress. As I said, you know, uh, we thought we might have some news last night. Maybe today.

[00:00:24]I wouldn't read too much into it. Takes a little while to hear back. So we have a what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, enter into a very real, significant timelmited negotiation on the nuclear matters and hopefully we can pull it off. It has a lot of support in the Gulf, has a lot of support globally.

[00:00:44]Every country that we've walked through it understands it's very not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done. As the president said, he's not in a hurry. He's not going to make a bad deal. I mean, the president's not going to make a bad agreement. So let's see what happens.

[00:00:56]Well, we we're going to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we we explore the alternatives.

[00:01:01]>> What's the hold up right now? Is there something that needs to be done?

[00:01:03]>> It's just a response. I mean, when you get down to some of these things, you got to hear back and it takes the Iranian system a little while longer to get back.

[00:01:10]>> Um, so like I look, the president's not going to make a bad deal. He's just not.

[00:01:15]This this issue, no one has done more and no one has been more serious about the threat of a nuclear Iran than President Trump has been. And so I'm very confident, we should all be very confident, that we're not going to have a we're either going to have a good agreement or we're going to have to deal with it another way. We'd prefer to have a good agreement.

[00:01:31]>> What about Lebanon? Is Lebanon going to be part of a deal?

[00:01:34]>> Well, Lebanon we're working on separately. With Lebanon, we are engaged now. We have a 45day ceasefire. We've had weekly meetings now and ongoing daily engagements between the government of Lebanon and Israel. The problem is not Lebanon and Israel. The problem is Hezbollah. Just last night, Hezbollah put out a statement calling for the overthrow of the Lebanese government.

[00:01:53]And it just reminds you who we're dealing with here, by the way, an Iranian proxy, 100% Iranian proxy. And as long as Lebanon exists with armaments, as long as an armed Lebanon uh as long as an armed Hezbollah exists, it's going to be hard to achieve peace in Lebanon because uh they're they're they're victimizing the people of Lebanon. They're not just attacking Israel. they are they are victimizing the people of Lebanon who are paying a tremendous price because of Hezbollah and so that that uh but we're working that track with the Lebanese government and the Israeli government and we've made some good progress there an extended ceasefire path forward. We're going to continue to work on that.

[00:02:29]Hezbollah is a terrorist group. What can I tell you?

[00:02:31]>> But would there be an understand that Israel wouldn't strike uh wouldn't strike Lebanon as part of >> Well, Israel always has a right to protect itself. Every country in the world does. And so if Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launch his missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that or to prevent that from happening. That's always been understood. It's being understood during the ceasefire and it'll now in in Lebanon and it'll be understood beyond that.

[00:02:51]>> What did you make of the uh the question you got yesterday on um on on racist comments about >> I don't know who he was talking about, but I I I figured I assumed that he was talking about like people posting stuff online. I don't even know some of those could be a troll or could be a bot. I don't know. So that's why I asked him specifically, can you tell me what you're talking about and who you're talking about? He didn't have a specific example. But the bottom line is that in the modern era, you go online and there are people saying all kinds of crazy stuff online. I don't even know if they're real people or who they are. So, but I could I didn't know what he was coming from.

[00:03:21]>> I think there was something that was reposted by the president where he was talking about India being quotequote.

[00:03:26]>> Well, I gave him a chance to tell me that. That's not what he said. The president loves India. He said it last night. I don't Were you guys there when he called in for the event last night, the 250? The president's a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi.

[00:03:37]I wouldn't be here if the president didn't want me to be here. He cares. He wouldn't have sent someone like Sergio to be our ambassador, someone who's very close to the president. So, uh, but I gave that reporter, okay, a chance to tell me who he was referring to, and he didn't. So, I just assumed he's talking just about random voices out there. I mean, people say stupid stuff all the time on social media and every country in the world, unfortunately. Can >> can I ask you about Pakistan? Uh, the uh the role that Pakistan has. Do the Indians voice any concern to you? What do you tell them?

[00:04:04]>> No, I mean look, they're concerned about the things they're always concerned about. Obviously, India is always pointing to the fact that there are armed terrorist groups operating from Pakistani territory that target India.

[00:04:14]They're always concerned about that. But as far as the role they played in as a mediator and a facilitator in the Iran situation, I never came up. I don't think that they would complain about that. I mean, their their their issues with Pakistan are different.

[00:04:27]>> Tell us about the the Taj Mahal doing there. What's >> I never been there. I heard uh the only one I ever knew about was the one in New Jersey that the president used to have.

[00:04:35]But you No, look, it's one of the wonders of the world. I think it's important to show respect to the culture of the countries that uh that you visit.

[00:04:42]Um we have a a gap in our schedule because the quad meeting couldn't happen till tomorrow. So, it was a good opportunity to see some of the cultural sites here and pay respect to this country and to I mean we could there's so much to see here and so it's such a big uh country with a lot of diversity and a tremendous history. So, it'll be a good opportunity to see something that is iconic for the country.

[00:05:04]>> Okay. Thanks very much.

[00:05:05]>> All right, guys.

[00:05:06]>> Are you guys going to that or no?

[00:05:08]>> Uh, it's apparently it's closed press.

[00:05:09]If you want to take us >> Well, you I just I don't think they let us have press coverage there, right? But they can see it. Have you guys ever seen it?

[00:05:16]>> I've been before.

[00:05:16]>> Oh, you have. All right. So, you're like >> I I just don't think they want us doing press coverage, that's all. So, uh, but that's not my rules. I We don't You know, it's not a to us, but um any event.

[00:05:26]>> How was the food? What? The food last night?

[00:05:30]>> I didn't at the 250 birthday thing, you know. I I ate a little bit, but not a lot. It wasn't really wasn't a dinner.

[00:05:35]It was a big party. It was fun. Did you see the village people?

[00:05:38]>> Did you get to watch it?

[00:05:40]>> I was in there a lot.

[00:05:41]>> They were good. They did a good job. The whole thing was great. The Navy band was great. People had a lot of fun. We had a lot of ambassadors there. We had a lot of our regional ambassadors from countries in the region that came in for the 250. So um obviously not every uh not every 250 celebration around the world is going to have that scale of magnitude but it's the most populous country in the world. So we had to do it big.

[00:06:03]>> Can I ask you one one broad question?

[00:06:05]This is your first trip to India and I think it was your first trip to China as well. You must have lot lots of going through your head on perspectives of the two biggest countries in the world by population. Do do you have like any any ideas like comparison how you felt in China, how you felt here? Well, they're different countries obviously, but India is a big country. I mean, it's, you know, most populous country in the world. Uh, it's a democracy. It's a strong strategic ally of the United States. China is the second largest economy in the world. Uh, the United States has to deal with both of these countries, but clearly our alliance with India is something that we're highlighting here today. So, you always learn something when you go on these trips. But these are two countries I had paid a lot of attention to even during my time in the Senate for obvious reasons. They're they're big important countries. All right, let's fly. Thanks very much. Thanks. What do you