Free Republic

As we have watched things unfold, we have noticed that Tulsi Gabbard and Marco Rubio seem to be the most effective at delivering results despite the efforts of the entrenched control mechanisms of the deep state intelligence community. Actions speak louder than words, and while the words of many are strong, it is the actions of Gabbard and Rubio that show focus.Previously Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard removed the National Intelligence Council from the CIA and removed the heads. In the latest development, the intelligence apparatus is in a state of apoplexy because DNI Gabbard has experienced the politicization...

The State Department on Thursday announced sanctions on four judges on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, over their roles in investigating the United States and Israel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that two of the justices approved the court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The other two authorized the ICC’s investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. The sanctions target judges Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. "As ICC...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio doubled down on President Trump’s demand for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia after the war escalated over a weekend with a series of intense bombings inside both countries. Rubio told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday that both sides needed to engage in direct talks “to achieve a lasting peace,” according to the State Department. The message came after Ukraine’s forces wiped out and damaged 41 of the Kremlin’s nuclear bombers and aircraft, attacking at least four air bases across Russia in a massive operation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is moving quickly on President Donald Trump’s directive to overhaul the State Department and has notified Congress of plans to eliminate or consolidate more than 300 offices. On Thursday, Rubio notified Congress of some of the plan’s particulars. The elimination or consolidation of more than 300 department offices amounts to nearly 45% of the State Department’s stateside offices, according to a document shared with The Daily Signal by a senior State Department official. The document outlines that these bureaus will focus on energy and technology, humanitarian affairs, internal operations, foreign assistance, strategy, and security, respectively....

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions the Trump administration is implementing against foreign authorities who it says are "complicit" in censoring Americans. "For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights," Rubio wrote on X. "Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority." Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of...

The first four months of President Donald Trump’s second term has been a whirlwind of historic progress. From his executive actions to his reciprocal tariffs to his determination to bring peace to the world, President Trump has acted quickly to implement the Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda. In the mission to undo the damage done by the last presidential administration, no cabinet member has been more instrumental than Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The United States is working with NATO partners to locate additional Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 20 during Senate testimony on the State Department's budget. Ukraine has consistently warned that its current air defense capacity is insufficient to counter the scale of Russia's intensified missile and drone attacks. "The U.S. is looking for Patriot batteries to be able to transfer from other NATO nations into Ukrainian hands," Rubio told lawmakers, adding that no country is willing to give up these systems, and the U.S. cannot produce them quickly enough. Kyiv...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered some shocking data points about American foreign aid spending before the Trump administration reformed the system. During testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, the top diplomat revealed that the White House discovered a foreign aid regime that was distracted and inefficient. Only 12 cents of every dollar spent by USAID reached recipients. ... while a mere 12 cents went to recipients, the other 88 cents was pocketed by third parties. ... Rubio noted that the United States is still giving “more humanitarian support than the next 10 countries combined” even after...

The National Security Council is a ¹cushy job inside the White House filled with bureaucratic analysts and people who are in place in an attempt to steer policy. Many of those detailed to the NSC represent the interests of the Silo agency from which they originate.The National Security Council contains approximately 350 full-time employees. The National Security Advisor, now Marco Rubio, is in charge of the NSC. Secretary Marco Rubio just fired more than 100 of them. A few quotes from Axios are beautiful, and telling:[…] “The NSC is the ultimate Deep State. It’s Marco vs. the Deep State. We’re...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in yet another heated exchange on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the department readies its budget proposals for the fiscal year 2026. This time, Rubio sparred with Rep. Pramilia Jayapal (D-WA) over the administration’s immigration policies, particularly the revocation of student visas for individuals who demonstrate animus towards the United States and its people. Jayapal — who enthusiastically supported former President Joe Biden’s de facto open border policies that saw more than seven million illegal aliens flood the United States — took issue with the Trump Administration’s decision to resettle a small number...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s efforts to deport alleged gang members to El Salvador in a fiery exchange with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Tuesday. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio knocked his former colleague for traveling to El Salvador to check on the well-being of a deported Maryland resident, Kilmar Abrego Garcia — who the administration initially admitted was mistakenly deported but now maintains is a member of a gang. “In the case of El Salvador, absolutely, absolutely. We deported gang members, gang members, including the one you had a margarita...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Chris Van Hollen clashed during a heated Senate hearing on the 2026 State Department budget. Van Hollen said he regretted confirming Rubio, prompting a sharp retort from Rubio: “Your regret confirms I’m doing a good job.” The fiery exchange highlighted deep divisions over U.S. foreign policy and accountability in the State Department.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the Syrian transitional authority may be weeks away from potential collapse and full-scale civil war, defending US President Donald Trump's decision to lift Syria sanctions and to engage with the Damascus government. "It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up," Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Going Entebbe on the hostage-taking dictator, right in front of his patron, Vladimir Putin. For Venezuela's fraudulently elected Nicolas Maduro, in Moscow to pay tribute to his patron Vlad Putin, yesterday was kind of embarrassing for both of them. Way under the radar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been busy, figuring out a way to make both of them look like weaklings, and with perfect timing, he succeeded: The U.S. welcomes the successful rescue of all hostages held by the Maduro regime at the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas. Following a precise operation, all hostages are now safely on U.S....

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy in Rome Sunday for ongoing peace talks as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. "During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible," Zelenskyy shared on X of the meeting. "We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and...

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tammy Bruce: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today. Secretary Rubio welcomed the prisoner exchange agreement reached during the May 16 Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul and delivered President Trump’s strong message: the United States is committed to achieving a lasting end to the Russia-Ukraine war. The comprehensive peace plan proposed by the United States outlines the best way forward. The Secretary emphasized President Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the violence.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not attend talks with Russia on Friday and said he does not expect a breakthrough in the negotiations over the war in Ukraine until Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet “face to face”, APA reports citing CNN. “We don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow,” Rubio said in a press gaggle in Antalya, Turkey, but said he hoped to be proven wrong. Rubio said he would meet Friday with the Ukrainian foreign minister and a Ukrainian delegation and “someone from our team will be involved in the Russia...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the only way a breakthrough will happen in the efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine would be through direct talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Moscow sent a second-tier team to talks in Turkey. Rubio, who spoke to reporters in Antalya, said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks. "I don't think we're going to have a breakthrough here until the president...

Just a hair over a week ago (ten days to be exact), an official arm of the German government declared the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party - now polling as Germany's most popular party in the country - a 'right-wing extremist' group. Yeah, right - so big deal, no? I mean, they've been calling them that forever. Actually, it was a big deal. It made the epithet an official label, opening the party and every last one of its members to constant, sanctioned (instead of surreptitious) government surveillance. It was also the first necessary step in the process of...

In a reprehensible slap in the face to the oppressed people of Venezuela, far-left members of the Democratic Party are urging President Obama to resist bipartisan efforts to level sanctions against the authoritarian government of Nicholas Maduro. Based on comments by the Administration, apparently their sympathy for the Marxist regime is shared by the White House in a startling reversal of national doctrine of supporting freedom and liberty that has endured since the US was founded in 1776. John Conyers, Democratic Congressman from Michigan, penned a letter to Obama signed by he and 13 of his colleagues urging them to...