Free Republic

The United States is overhauling how it distributes foreign aid to prioritize direct investment in partner nations and eliminate waste by bypassing the “NGO industrial complex,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday. Rubio unveiled the new policy during the signing of a $2.5 billion Health Cooperation Framework with Kenya. The United States will provide up to $1.6 billion over the next five years to support priority health programs, while Kenya will increase domestic health spending by $850 million to foster its long-term health self-reliance. Rubio said the previous system funneled aid through foreign or U.S.-based NGOs that absorbed funding...

Vice President JD Vance just dropped a hilarious Oval Office story leaving the entire room cracking up. President Trump glanced over the Resolute Desk at VP Vance and Secretary Marco Rubio and said, “You guys have shitty shoes.” Right then and there, Trump pulled out a shoe catalog and gifted them 4 pairs of shoes. 🤣 Wait until the end of the story… “Today I'm in the Oval Office with the President and Marco Rubio, and we're talking about something really important. The President kind of holds up his hand and says, ‘no, no, no, hold on a second. There's...

“When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets it solved,” Donald Trump boasts about his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. This week, Marco Rubio is putting that reputation to the test. He is the key man on the two major international fronts the United States is currently engaged in, and with two very different roles: in the negotiations over the war in Ukraine, he took the reins to balance out what was initially a clearly pro-Russian proposal and try to push through a peace plan acceptable to Kyiv; in the standoff with Venezuela, he is...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is one of many high-profile individuals who have raised questions about alleged secret UAP programs run by the Pentagon. The subject of unidentified anomalous phenomena, or what most people call UFOs, has been of increasing interest following whistleblower testimony from David Grusch, who alleged the Pentagon has been operating a top-secret UFO program. Rubio is one of many high-profile subjects who are appearing in the newly streaming documentary “Age of Disclosure,” which addresses the subject and alleged government UFO cover-ups. ... “Things are flying over sensitive restricted airspace in the U.S., and they claim it’s...

Thanksgiving weekend ends on Sunday, and still there’s no peace in Ukraine. Donald Trump’s latest attempt to end the war – his 28-point plan – began to fall apart from the moment it mysteriously leaked to various international news outfits last week. As that story landed, Reuters broke some other news: Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, would stand down in January. Kellogg, who represents the more ardently pro-Ukrainian faction of the administration, had clashed repeatedly with Trump’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been engaging in friendly dialogue with Moscow for most of the year. His departure seemed...

Kellogg Fired Over Leaking 28-Point Plan – Proposal Designed To Trap Putin It seems that Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, got fired over leaking news of the 28-point ‘peace plan’. Let’s follow the traces. On Tuesday the 18th November someone ‘leaked’ to Axios reporter Barak Ravid who then wrote the first story of Trump’s new plan for Ukraine. Scoop: U.S. secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war The plan’s 28 points fall into four general buckets, sources tell Axios: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine. … Trump’s...

Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s top economic envoy, arrived in the United States with holes in his sails and no wind to push him forward. He was a man on a desperate mission. A phone call between Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, had not gone well. The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, expected to take place within two weeks, was shelved. The US president had finally lost patience with his Russian counterpart’s refusal to support a ceasefire in Ukraine. On Wednesday, he slapped Moscow’s largest oil firms with crippling sanctions. With...

Trump answers whether he would run as vice presidential candidate in 2028President hails Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors while criticizing Democratic opponentsPresident Donald Trump shot down speculation that he would run as a vice presidential candidate in 2028, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that Republicans already have "great" prospective candidates.Trump made the statement during a gaggle with reporters on Sunday, brushing off questions about whether he would fully pursue such an option. Trump pointed to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as two potential successors, while denigrating...

(The Daily Signal)—President Donald Trump named two members of his Cabinet as an unbeatable duo in the 2028 presidential election. When asked by a reporter on Air Force One Monday morning if he would run in 2028, Trump said, “We have great people.” “One of them is standing right here,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “We have JD [Vance], obviously. The Vice President is great. Marco is great, I think. I’m not sure if anybody would run against those. I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable.” Trump said he “hasn’t really...

Resignations Come After Sanctions on Israel-Focused Rapporteur: In the week prior to the commissioners’ resignation announcements, Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UNHRC special rapporteur dedicated to scrutinizing Israel, for her role in supporting International Criminal Court (ICC) efforts targeting U.S. and Israeli citizens. The commission panelists met with top ICC staff in The Hague in 2022. In June 2024, the commission stated that it was “cooperating with accountability processes in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.”

BREAKING: President Trump ON THE SPOT orders Secretary Marco Rubio to designate Antifa as a FOREIGN terrorist organization "It's what I'd like to do. Everybody agree? Let's get it done. OK, Marco? We'll take care of it."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week, but on Tuesday morning, he took some time out to make the morning show rounds on several networks. He didn't shy away from promoting the Donald Trump administration's "America First" policies.AdvertisementOn ABC, George Stephanopoulos seemed obsessed with cuts to foreign aid, claiming they've led to deaths around the world. Rubio wasn't willing to play along with that tired narrative that I thought the left finally gave up on months ago. As the secretary has pointed out numerous times, USAID was a "dysfunctional...

A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is being planned, with a broad agenda on the table, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin on the sidelines of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in response to a related question, according to Report. "It is being planned; the agenda is extensive," he said. "The meeting itself is important."

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel launched its offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, vowing to overwhelm a city already in ruins from nearly two years of war as thousands of Palestinians fled in vehicles strapped with mattresses and other belongings that clogged a coastal road. The operation into the largest Palestinian city escalated a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushed any ceasefire with Hamas farther out of reach. The military would not offer a timeline for the offensive that aims to crush the militant group’s ability to fight, but Israeli media suggested it could take months. “Gaza...

The stones of the ancient site "100% validate that the Jewish people not only belong here now, but they have belonged here for 4,000 years, since the time God said to Abraham: this is yours," said U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. (Sept. 16, 2025 / JNS) Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reopened the Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem, a first-century route linking the City of David to the Temple Mount. The Pilgrimage Road, a broad stone route used during the Second Temple period, connected the Pool of Siloam, where pilgrims purified themselves...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel on Monday, stopping in Jerusalem and making a visit to the City of David archaeological park in East Jerusalem. The visit was part of the inauguration of the fully excavated Pilgrimage Road, an ancient pathway used as Jerusalem's main thoroughfare and passage for pilgrims during the Second Temple Period.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador Mike Huckabee joined Secretary Rubio. Ambassador Huckabee called the excavation something that "lets the stones speak," according to the Jerusalem Post. Huckabee also reiterated Jerusalem is Israel's "undivided capital," saying, "the Jewish people never forgot that this...

The Trump administration aims to carry out more violent strikes against drug cartels, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said as he met with Ecuador’s president.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the Trump administration wants to help partner governments conduct violent strikes against criminal groups, following the playbook the U.S. military used this week to carry out a lethal attack on a boat in the Caribbean.“Those governments will help us find these people and blow them up,” he said at a news conference in Ecuador. “They might do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”Mr. Rubio made his...

In 2023, María Corina Machado won the nomination as the Unity Democratic Platform candidate for the presidency in Venezuela. The Maduro government invalidated this election. Edmundo González Urrutia took her place on the July 2024 ballot. According to non-government sources, he got 70% of the votes in the Venezuelan presidential election to 30% for incumbent Nicolás Maduro Moros. However, Maduro declared himself the winner. There were massive public protests against Maduro's usurpation. Thousands were arrested. Maria went into hiding. Edmundo sought and was granted asylum in Spain. Five top aides of the Unity Democratic Platform Party were granted asylum by...

"You're not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin."Secretary of State Marco Rubio unloaded on ABC News host Martha Raddatz over her claim that when President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Friday’s summit in Alaska, he had effectively “elevated” the Russian leader on the world stage.Raddatz brought up the summit, which Trump has touted as a success, and claimed that “people were saying” he had actually given Putin the upper hand by allowing him to walk the “red carpet” and be seen on the “world stage” meeting with the American...

Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio hit the Sunday news circuit to expand on President Trump’s peace initiative and meeting with Russian President Putin.Appearing on NBC, Rubio outlines the results of the Alaska summit between President Trump and President Putin, as well as the next steps ahead of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy coming to the White House on Monday. WATCH: Following along with much of the same conversation, Secretary Rubio also appeared on ABC this week to debate the ever-insufferable Martha Raddatz. Below: Russia Faces Consequences If Talks Fail