Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke out on Operation Epic Fury twice on Thursday, first at Donald Trump’s Cabinet meeting and again before boarding a plane to head to Paris for the G7 Foreign Affairs Ministerial, where he’ll meet with world leaders to talk about security concerns, specifically the situation in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine War.
He’s made one thing clear: Iran was not, is not, and will not be a United States-only problem. It’s a world problem. And it’s time for other countries to step up.
In what many on social media are calling a “mic drop” moment, Rubio started by laying out the most important issue: Iran has been at war with the United States for 47 years, killing and attacking United States citizens.
“And other presidents had an opportunity to do something about it, and they all warned about how Iran was dangerous, but they refused to act,” he said. “And this president’s not someone that’s going to refuse to act. He’s not going to leave a danger like this in place. He’s going to address it, and that is what he is doing.”
He then went on to explain that the people running Iran are “religious fanatics” and there was really no other way to stop them. “They’re attacking embassies and hotels,” he said.
“Imagine what these people would do if they had a nuclear weapon. That is an unacceptable risk for the world,” he said, adding, “By the way, the president’s not just doing a favor to the United States and to our people. This is for the world. He defined very clearly on the first night of this operation what the goal was.”
You can watch the entire thing here. I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy hearing Mad Marco as much as I do:
SECRETARY RUBIO: The people who run Iran are religious fanatics. Look at what they are doing: attacking embassies and hotels. Imagine what these people would do if they had a nuclear weapon.
The President’s not just doing a favor for the United States, but for the world. pic.twitter.com/9v70tAsCOp
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 26, 2026
Before boarding his plane on Thursday afternoon, a reporter asked him specifically if he was going to ask the G7 to help with the Strait of Hormuz. While he wouldn’t get into the specifics, Rubio again pointed out that it’s in these other countries’ best interests to get involved because many of them get more of their oil from the Strait of Hormuz than the United States does.
Another reporter asked about Trump criticizing NATO earlier on Thursday, and Rubio pointed out something that’s sort of been a theme of his and Trump’s foreign policy for the past year: The U.S. is tired of having to step in and help everyone else out without getting anything in return (emphasis mine):
I think he just made an observation, and the observation is that the United States is constantly being asked to help in a war, and we have more than any other country in the world, on a war that’s happening in another continent, in Ukraine. But when the U.S. had a need, he didn’t get positive responses. So, right now he’s just making the observation that — I think it was a couple of the leaders in Europe who said that this was not Europe’s war. Well, Ukraine is not America’s war, and yet we’ve contributed more to that fight than any other country in the world. So, it’ll be something to examine that the President will have to take into account down the road.
A reporter later asked if he was worried about the reception he might get at the G7 meeting and whether he was afraid the other world leaders might not be “happy” with him. Rubio basically laughed in the face of the press.
“Well, again, I’m not there to make them happy. I get along with all of them on a personal level, and we work with those governments very carefully, but the people I’m interested in making happy are the people of the United States,” he said. “That’s who I work for. I don’t work for France or Germany or Japan. These are all good people. We’re going to have great meetings…But I work for the people of the United States.”
Finally, someone asked if he plans to ask his G7 counterparts for help with Iran. “Well, it’s not help for us. Like I said, very little of our energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s the world that has a great interest in that, so they should step up and deal with it,” he said. Boom.
I don’t have much else to add — I just love hearing real leadership in action. It’s something our country has been lacking for a long, long time. We aren’t the world’s babysitters, and it’s time some of these countries, especially in Europe, step up and do their fair share in this and numerous other matters.
Here’s Rubio’s entire remarks to the press if you’re interested:
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