Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down to discuss his first 30 days leading the Department on Feb. 20, in an exclusive 42-minute interview with independent journalist Catherine Herridge. She has posted the video from “Catherine Herridge Reports” and the State Department has published the transcript.
As reported in the Feb. 22 Briefing, topics included Gaza, Russia-Ukraine, Iran, China, and U.S. foreign policy priorities.
On Gaza and Iran, Rubio said that Hamas, a terrorist organization, should have no role in a future Palestinian government. He restated President Trump’s position on relocating refugees from Gaza, and said that if a nation disagrees with Trump’s plan, they should present their own. The U.S. will never tolerate Iran developing nuclear weapons, he said, but declined to elaborate on “options available to us to respond” if they did.
On the administration’s “America First” orientation, Rubio clarified that it’s “America First,” not “America Only.” All activities of the State Department have to be reviewed to confirm that their missions are aligned with the national interest of the USA. He responded to questions from Herridge regarding the DOGE, USAID, and similar topics.
Asked, “How much ground was lost [in our relations with Russia] under the Biden White House?” Rubio responded, “Well, there was no ground. I mean, it was all lost. … [E]ven at the height of the Cold War, even in the worst days of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had communication.” He continued: “Whether we like it or not, Russia is a power, a global power, and they’re involved and engaged in Syria; they’ve been involved and engaged in the Middle East; even in the Western Hemisphere, certainly in Europe. We have to have some communication with them.”
He echoed the same for China, saying that communication is necessary. He defended Trump’s tariff plan, saying that U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods should not be lower than those China charges on U.S. products. This would make for an even playing field, he said.
He said that there are no firm plans for a meeting between Trump and Russian President Putin, because first there has to be an agreement on an agenda, especially regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict. “I tell people peace is … an action. It’s not a noun, it’s a verb, it’s an action. You must actually pursue it.”
Rubio explained his choice to grant the major interview to Herridge, arguing that the legacy media is losing credibility and influence and the State Department must engage people where they actually get their news. The State department is “making decisions every day, and they deserve to hear from us. Where are people getting their news and information? That’s where we need to be delivering our news and information,” he said. “What we can’t allow to have happen is we can’t allow our message to solely be provided through the filter of legacy, traditional media outlets whose … readership is down, their viewership is down, their ratings are down ... we have to take our message where people are getting their news and information, and in these sort of long-form interviews where you’re getting serious questions and can provide answers to nuanced issues, not little sound bites that they run during the cable news hour for news and entertainment purposes. So, we’ll engage everybody, but we almost certainly see a greater emphasis on independent journalism because that’s where people are getting their news and information.”
