Democrat Grills Rubio | Trump Foreign Policy Challenged | Heated Hearing Erupts

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]he has to say.

[00:00:03]>> Thank you, Secretary Buo, for being here today.

[00:00:07]You know, 18 months ago, you inherited the most powerful diplomatic institution in the world.

[00:00:14]Built on three pillars that have defined American leadership since World War II.

[00:00:19]I call them the 3Ds. Diplomacy, dialogue, and development.

[00:00:24]And in just 18 months, the Trump administration has taken a wrecking ball to all three. This administration has involved and have invoked a world view from years past that has left the United States isolated and struggling economically.

[00:00:44]What you see is a greatest hits album of failed ideas from the last century.

[00:00:51]tariffs, spears of influence, attacks on civil rights and immigration, ignoring science and hoping for the best. Mr. Secretary, America cannot win the future by trying to relive the past.

[00:01:16]and your department is exhibit A.

[00:01:24]We've seen the s systematic dismantling of America's diplomatic core. Over 100 ambassador posts sit vacant around the world. 1,300 career professionals, people with decades of expertise in energy, counterterrorism, and nuclear non-prololiferation have been fired.

[00:01:46]Efforts to ensure US diplomats represent the diversity of America have been squandered. While China increases its diplomatic presence globally, we have cut ours to the bone. America cannot win the future by retreating and seeding the field. On trade, this administration revived Smoo Holly and we all know how that ended. Trump's tariffs raised costs for American people, harmed small businesses, and alienated our allies. We cannot build a 21st century economy on 20th century failures.

[00:02:31]Mr. Secretary, after decades of forever war in the Middle East, President Trump promised the American people no new wars, only to send a new generation of troops back to the Middle East. We've traded dialogue for bombs yet again.

[00:02:50]And where does that leave us today? The Iranian regime still has its missiles, its drones, its proxies, and its nuclear material. There is an ayatollah still in power only he's younger with the IRGC more entrist and more hardline. The straight of Hamus is closed. It wasn't before you started this war. It wasn't before we lost 14 American troops.

[00:03:19]Before American bombs killed 168 Iranian school girls. before Americans were forced to spend over $100 billion dollars on this war.

[00:03:30]You helped spend the perfect pretext for this war and then failed to prepare American embassies and citizens when the bombs started falling. Those who have defended and enabled this war shared direct responsibility for the economic pain American families are bearing as a result.

[00:03:50]Our allies knew this war was ill- advised and that's why they are sitting on the sidelines while Gulf energy infrastructure and American bases take incoming. Trump said America first.

[00:04:03]Now America's alone in our hemisphere. Talk of reasserting dominance has meant illegally abducting foreign leaders, installing one order crack in place of another, bombing boats without due process, and blockading civilian populations. That is not American leadership. Those are not American values. That is behavior we built the rulesbased order to prevent.

[00:04:29]The Trump administration's attack on foreign aid and development efforts remain equally destructive and regressive.

[00:04:37]This administration's policies have directly contributed to famine in South Sudan and have undermined our ability to respond to the LA latest Ebola outbreak in real time. HIV rates are rising. Mr. Secretary, these cuts have resulted in the avoidable death of hundreds of thousands of children around the world.

[00:04:58]And we cannot protect Americans by ignoring science or forgetting what ignoring it cost us before. So, Mr. Secretary, on climate and energy, the story is the same.

[00:05:10]>> Ranking members, time is expired. Over the members of the committee are reminding that opening statements may be submitted for the record. We're pleased to have Secretary of State Marco Rubio before us today. Your full statements will be made a part of the record. I'll ask you to keep your spoken remarks to five minutes in order to allow time for member questions. I now recognize Secretary Rubio for your opening statement.

[00:05:28]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member, and all the members of the committee for having me. I have a written opening statement. I'll submit it. I'll try to cut the five minutes in half if I can. Let's just get right to the point. I think that you I would characterize the last 16 17 months at the state department as two things. A history of tremendous successes combined with uh ongoing and difficult challenges and we will always have ongoing and difficult challenges in the world. Let me walk through them one by one. India and Pakistan were on the verge of an all-out war. The state department and I personally were involved in deescalating that conflict and bringing it to an end.

[00:06:01]A war between two nuclear powers.

[00:06:03]Thailand and Cambodia were involved in a war. Cambodia, a country we haven't normally had close relations with in a very long time. The US, the president personally played a pivotal role, not once but twice, restoring ceasefires and ending that conflict. Um, obviously the the the uh the the war in Gaza was brought to an end. Not only that, but all the hostages that remained were released, both the bodies and those who were alive. Armenia and Azarbaijan, that conflict ended. Not only did it end, but it ended with an agreement that I signed theou on yesterday, creating a new prosperity route, the trip route, which will provide extraordinary opportunities for both countries, especially for Armenia, while respecting their sovereignty to really benefit from that.

[00:06:43]The Shield of the Americas was stood up.

[00:06:45]That means over 14 countries in the hemisphere, 14 countries in the hemisphere have signed up to partner with us on counterterrorism, counter narcotics, and security matters. And we believe that that number will grow over the next few months as election elections change leaderships in various countries. We held a rare earth ministerial that was attended by over 30 some odd countries from around the world. All who were signing up for an Americanled effort to ensure that critical supplies of rare earth minerals around the world are available for our emerging economies and we don't remain overly dependent on China. We also announced the PACIA uh proposal which is growing but it's at 14 members now.

[00:07:22]These are 14 countries that are cooperating with one another to protect the supply chains critical to AI and AI development in the future. In Venezuela, we now have a functioning and open embassy. We have people traveling there for the first time. It's not where it needs to be, but it is a long ways from where it was 5 months ago and poses nearly not nearly the threat it once posed to America's national security.

[00:07:43]We're not satisfied with where it is, but we've come a long way. We are certainly better off than we were 5 years five months ago on the on the on Nigeria uh where we were all many were very concerned about violence against Christians. We are now actively in counterterrorism cooperation with the Nigerian government and Nigerian security forces including a joint operation a couple weeks ago that took out the number two leader of global ISIS operating from inside of the country and that continues. The Pacific Islands, small Pacific islands under constant pressure and threat from China, have received more attention from this administration than they've received in the last 10 years combined and deliverables are coming along the way.

[00:08:21]The Quad, an important alliance in the Indoacific between India, Japan, Australia. We've had multiple meetings of those of that group, including a meeting just last week in India and a follow-up that's going to occur later this year, including a leaders meeting before the end of the year. As I speak to you now for the second consecutive day and for the first time in many many years, the leaders of the legitimate government of Lebanon and leaders from the government of Israel are seated at the State Department for the second day in a row and hopefully today will present uh produce a joint statement and an action plan on a track for security in that country independent from Hezbollah, independent from nefarious influence. Uh they had similar meetings last week at the Pentagon at the military level. Um we have signed 32 health compacts. 32 countries have signed health contracts with the United States where our aid to those countries will not just be dollars distributed to an NGO who then will go into the country and impose programs. Instead, we are partnering with 32 countries, many of them in the African continent, in which we will empower their native and domestic health industries and and national health systems so that they can not not only are we treating the the the acute situations on the ground of people that are sick. We are helping them be build the capacity and the capability to do this for themselves. This is what these countries want. They do not want to be perpetual aid recipients. They want to be able to be able to take care of their people one day. and we are helping them as part of our aid to build that infrastructure. I could go on, but let me just say another point. We are better today than we have ever been at disaster relief. Today, the United States can respond to disasters around the world on a humanitarian basis faster and more effectively than they ever have because of our reorganization. And the proof is