U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington as a historic opportunity, with Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad attending. The meeting focuses on moving forward amid complex regional tensions and a fragile Middle East ceasefire. WATCH:

[TRANSCRIPT] QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, why did you decide to join? Is it a signal that the U.S. is fully engaged?

QUESTION: Can we see a ceasefire soon between Lebanon and Israel?

QUESTION: Secretary —

SECRETARY RUBIO: “May I please? Thank you very much. Thank you for being here today. We’re very honored to be joined by two countries that the United States wants to have strong – have strong relations with, and we’re obviously very happy to serve in this facilitating role.”

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the termination of lawful permanent resident status for Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, identified as Qasem Soleimani’s niece, and her daughter. Both were subsequently detained and are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Marco Rubio – “Last night, the niece and grand niece of deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s termination of their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As identified by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.

While living in the United States, she promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the “Great Satan,” and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization.

Afshar Soleimani pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account.

In addition to the termination of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter’s LPR status, Afshar’s husband has also been barred from entering the United States.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears on Fox News to discuss the various goals and objectives of the U.S. military operation against Iran.  As part of the interview Secretary Rubio was asked about the strategic conflicts and hypocrisies now flowing from NATO member states.

The U.S. supports our NATO posture in Europe in part because it provides us with strategic military bases and operations that are considered vital to our national interests.  However, as outlined in the Iran conflict, when we need to use those strategic bases the NATO member states withdraw previous permissions.  France has blocked us from flying over their airspace, Spain and Italy have said the U.S. cannot use our military bases on their soil for operations. The U.K has refused to protect and/or escort their own energy assets.

The NATO membership is now a one-way street where they demand our military protection, but Europe blocks us from using our own military assets for our independent operations.

Europe, while hiding behind the NATO protection skirt of the U.S, is simultaneously telling the U.S. what we can and cannot do with our own military.  Secretary Rubio and President Trump are now confronting this very visible one-way benefit head on. WATCH (prompted).

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives a complete outline of why the Trump administration finally took action against Iran.  Delivering the full explanation in under two minutes, Secretary Rubio directly and succinctly states why U.S. military action was needed, and what the ultimate end game is for that action.  WATCH:

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Al Jazeera is essentially the state run media outlet of Qatar.  Secretary of State Rubio sat down for a lengthy interview with Al Jazeera that will be shared throughout the Arab world.

“In an exclusive Al Jazeera interview, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that President Trump always prefers diplomacy, with messages and indirect talks ongoing between the US and figures inside Iran. Rubio demanded that Iran abandon all nuclear weapons ambitions, end its missile and drone programmes, and stop sponsoring terrorism across the region. He rejected Iran’s conditions for ending the war — including sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and financial compensation — calling the strait demand illegal and a dangerous global precedent. Rubio declared that the strait “will be open one way or another” after US military objectives are achieved, whether through Iranian compliance or an international coalition.”

“He outlined those objectives as the destruction of Iran’s air force (achieved), navy (largely achieved), missile launchers, and weapons factories — all to be completed in weeks, not months. Rubio expressed disappointment with NATO allies like Spain for denying basing rights and airspace, warning that the US would re-examine its NATO commitment. He confirmed the US would welcome regime change in Iran but insisted it was not the official objective of the current military operation. The interview also covered post-Maduro stabilisation in Venezuela and called for serious economic and political reforms in Cuba.” 

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As Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears for an interview on Good Morning America, President Trump released the following statement:

“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran. Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately “Open for Business,” we will conclude our lovely “stay” in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet “touched.” This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year “Reign of Terror.” Thank you for your attention to this matter.” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

Secretary Rubio responded in real time to questions about the objectives.  Rubio impressively underlined the objectives in Iran, reemphasizing the core intent of the military operation to remove the capacity of Iran to pose a threat to the stable alliances that have formed in the region.  WATCH:

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If you’ve ever watched the intrapersonal aspects of the EU as a governing body, you have likely noticed that EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, is an annoying person always injecting herself into every discussion. The DEI infected bureaucrats always go along with it.

Last month, Kallas came to the USA to meet with members of congress sympathetic to World War Reddit and Zelenskyy. A cashmere dustup was created because Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t meet with her on the eve of Operation Epic Fury.  Mrs Kallas felt slighted.

According to insider reports, during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to the G7 foreign minister’s assembly in Paris Mrs Kallas took the opportunity to snark at Secretary Rubio.

(Via Axios) – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio when the U.S. would get tough on Russia during a G7 ministers meeting on Friday, sparking a sharp retort, according to three sources who attended the meeting.

She noted that Rubio had said at the same forum a year earlier that if Russia hampered U.S. efforts to end the war, the U.S. would run out of patience and take more steps against the Kremlin.

“A year has passed and Russia hasn’t moved,” Kallas told Rubio, according to the sources. “When is your patience going to run out?”

Rubio was visibly annoyed, “We are doing the best we can to end the war. If you think you can do it better, go ahead. We will step aside,” he fired back, raising his voice. (read more)

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes reporters’ questions in Paris, France as he departs the G7 minister meeting for a return trip to Washington DC.  There is a lot of good information in this presser.

Within the remarks and questions, [06:55] Secretary Rubio is asked about recent comments from Ukraine President Zelenskyy who said the U.S. would only give security guarantees if Ukraine gave the Donbas region to Russia.  Secretary Rubio responded, “that’s a lie, and I saw him say that and it’s unfortunate he would say that, because he knows that’s not true.” … “I don’t know why he says these things.”  WATCH:

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The more NATO/EU hypocrisy creates friction with President Trump; the less U.S. support exists for Ukraine.  That’s the dynamic Zelenskyy is trying desperately to navigate with his EU allies.

During a lengthy interview with Reuters, Zelenskyy says he has been directly told the only way for Ukraine to get security guarantees from USA participation is if he concedes the contested Donbas region to Russia and ends the conflict.

Assuming what Zelenskyy says is accurate, at this point in the ongoing stalemate, this seems like the pragmatic optimal solution.  Concede Donbas to Russia, and the U.S. will mediate terms that emphasize an American willingness to protect Ukraine from further encroachment.

That said, when Zelenskyy once again starts asking who is going to pay for the needs of his country, the U.S. taxpayer eyeroll commences.

KYIV, March 25 (Reuters) – The U.S. ​is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding all of the country’s eastern region of Donbas to Russia, President Volodymyr ‌Zelenskiy told Reuters in an interview.

[…] Two vital questions remained unresolved regarding security guarantees, Zelenskiy said: Who would help to fund Ukraine’s weapons ​purchases to sustain its military deterrent, and how exactly would its allies respond in the face of any future Russian aggression?

“The Americans are prepared to finalise these guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ​ready to withdraw from Donbas,” said the 48-year-old leader, who added that he understood the “subtleties” of the American position although he had not participated directly himself in the trilateral talks.

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CPAC 2026 is scheduled to begin March 25 through March 28 in Grapevine, Texas.  Interestingly, President Trump not scheduled to speak at the event; neither is JD Vance, Marco Rubio or any other potential GOP 2028 nominee including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

There are a few cabinet members scheduled as speakers [SEE HERE], however, all of the major MAGA politicians are not in attendance.  It will be interesting to see if the attendance at CPAC 2026 is impacted.

The absence of Donald Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Ron DeSantis or any other major MAGA-era politician is not that surprising given the commercialized nature and evolution of the organization under the leadership of Matt and Mercedes Schlapp.  The Schlapp’s are highly focused on affluence and considerably disconnected from the MAGA base.

When you chase money, you end up with traditional Republican outcomes.  The corporate assembly that CPAC became has been spiraling downward in influence for the past dozen years.  However, it is still remarkable to see just how diminished the organization has become.

Steve Bannon remains on the schedule to speak, and the remaining list of easily identifiable speakers resembles a Bannon podcast guest list.  There are several foreign ‘conservatives’ scheduled to participate, but there are zero potential 2028 candidates in the currently displayed list of speakers.  Ted Cruz will be there.

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