Source: US Congresswoman McBride Office
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Delaware’s Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Del.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, pressed U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio on the Trump administration’s foreign policy, including President Trump’s repeated attacks on NATO, threats to seize Greenland, and the United States’ commitment to defending NATO allies under Article 5.
Rep. McBride’s full questioning of Secretary Rubio can be found here. Key excerpts are below.
On NATO alliances:
Rep. McBride: “…I want to focus in today on statements and actions that I believe go beyond pressuring and leverage and actually fundamentally undermine the foundation of NATO. On January 21st of this year in the president’s speech in Davos, he said we ‘never got anything’ from NATO. Two months later, the president said on Truth Social, speaking of NATO, ‘They will do nothing for us.’ Mr. Secretary, do you share the president’s assessment that we ‘never got anything’ from NATO?”
Secretary Rubio: “Well, I think what the president was speaking to at that moment, and was what I’ll speak to you about now, is the … One of the reasons why I’ve been such a strong supporter of NATO is because they allow us to use these bases, because it allows us in a time of contingency, like the one in Germany and others. And for the first time, we see NATO countries denying us the use of their bases, which undermines the purpose of our involvement.”
Rep. McBride: “Mr. Secretary, these statements, including the one we ‘never got anything’ from NATO, happened before the war in Iran, which falls outside of the Article 5 invocation. It falls outside of a war of defense. Do you share the president’s assessment that we ‘never got anything’ from NATO?”
Secretary Rubio: “I share the president’s assessment that on issues that are a priority to the United States…”
Rep. McBride: “I’ll take that as you disagree with his assessment that we ‘never got anything’ from NATO.”
On Greenland and Article 5:
Rep. McBride: “…But does the United States need to own land within NATO to defend it? That’s what the president said, and that was the justification for those statements and the attempt to seize Greenland several months ago.”
Secretary Rubio: “The president’s view is that it’s a lot easier to defend it when you have control and complete control of it. We are obviously having conversations with both Denmark and Greenland. They’re ongoing on a monthly basis now. I think we’ll have pretty good news on it at some point.”
Rep. McBride: “So I take that as you disagree with the literal words of the president of the United States. And I want to put a finer point…”
Secretary Rubio: “I think he’s right. If we owned it, it would be easier to defend it.”
Rep. McBride: “That’s not what he said. He said you need to own it to defend it. Which fundamentally undermines the central tenet of Article 5 of NATO, which states that the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against all of them, and if such an armed attack occurs, each of them will assist the party or parties attacked. So sitting here with, I’m sure, many leaders across Europe within NATO and many leaders beyond, including Vladimir Putin, potentially watching the words and listening to the words that you are saying, can you reassure our NATO allies, and make it clear to Vladimir Putin that if a NATO ally is attacked and Article 5 is invoked, that we will defend them?”
Secretary Rubio: “The United States is still in the NATO alliance, and we’ll be there in Turkey to talk about all these topics. The president himself will be attending the next NATO meeting of heads of state, where all these points will be made clear. We’re still in NATO, but NATO needs significant changes, and the president has made that clear.”
