Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Rubios

North Korea slams Rubio’s ‘rogue state’ label as ‘nonsense’

North Korea is criticizing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s description of the country as a “rogue state,” calling it “nonsense” while vowing to take “tough counteraction” to any provocations from the Trump administration.

Rubio made the remark last week during an appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” where he was speaking about the goals of U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power. That was not – that was an anomaly. It was a product of the end of the Cold War, but eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world, multi-great powers in different parts of the planet. We face that now with China and to some extent Russia, and then you have rogue states like Iran and North Korea you have to deal with,” Rubio said, according to the State Department.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said in response that Rubio “talked nonsense by terming the DPRK a ‘rogue state’ while enumerating the foreign policy of the new U.S. administration.”

TRUMP’S ‘DENUCLEARIZATION’ SUGGESTION WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA: HOW WOULD IT WORK?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

“The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK deems the U.S. State Secretary’s hostile remarks to thoughtlessly tarnish the image of a sovereign state as a grave political provocation totally contrary to the principle of international law which regards respect for sovereignty and non-interference in other’s internal affairs as its core and strongly denounces and rejects it,” read a statement published by North Korean state media.

“Rubio’s coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new U.S. administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the U.S. interests as he wishes,” the statement added, taking a swipe at the Trump administration.

NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS IN RUSSIA RESORT TO SUICIDE AMID CAPTURE OF FIRST POWS BY UKRAINE

President Donald Trump, right, met with Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018 during Trump’s first term as president. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“We will never tolerate any provocation of the U.S., which has been always hostile to the DPRK and will be hostile to it in the future, too, but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” it concluded.

Rubio said during the interview that “now more than ever, we need to remember that foreign policy should always be about furthering the national interest of the United States and doing so, to the extent possible, avoiding war and armed conflict, which we have seen two times in the last century be very costly.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, waves after being welcomed by Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha, left, upon his arrival at the presidential palace in Panama City on Sunday, Feb. 2. Panama is Rubio’s first trip abroad as secretary of State. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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“They’re celebrating the 80th anniversary this year of the end of the Second World War. That – I think if you look at the scale and scope of destruction and loss of life that occurred, it would be far worse if we had a global conflict now. It may end life on the planet,” he also said. “And it sounds like hyperbole, but that’s – you have multiple countries now who have the capability to end life on Earth. And so we need to really work hard to avoid armed conflict as much as possible, but never at the expense of our national interest. So that’s the tricky balance.”

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 3, 2025
Rubio’s foreign aid freeze applies to millions in funding for ‘condoms in Gaza’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to freeze foreign aid over the weekend included pulling millions of dollars-worth of U.S. funding for “condoms in Gaza,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.

The revelation came as the official explained that a separate memo from the Office of Management and Budget will temporarily pause grants, loans and federal assistance programs pending a review into whether the funding coincides with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, such as those related to ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) “that undermine the national interest.”

“If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues,” the White House official told Fox News Digital. “This is similar to how HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO [World Health Organization] after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend.”

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

Palestinians attach an incendiary device to inflated plastic bags and condoms to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department on Tuesday seeking additional information.

The Jerusalem Post reported in 2020 that scores of condoms were being used to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would carry into southern Israel, raising alarm on schoolyards, farmlands and highways.

At the time, the Post reported that the improvised explosive devices – floated into Israel via inflated contraceptives – burned thousands of hectares of land and caused “millions of shekels of damage.” It’s not clear if the practice continues.

Just two days after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which involved Hamas terrorists brutally raping some of the approximately 1,200 people killed in southern Israel and hundreds of others brought back into Gaza as hostages, a global NGO known as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) released a statement regarding the resulting war and escalating violence.

The NGO claimed that any blockade of aid shipments into Gaza would infringe on their “enormous gains made in life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare in this region.”

“Palestinians are systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights,” the executive director of a corresponding NGO, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), said at the time. “Our health system has been repeatedly targeted and depleted by the Israeli occupation, and the more it disintegrates, the more it will hinder the full realization of these rights for women and girls.”

On Sunday, Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.

Palestinians prepare incendiary devices before being attached to inflated condoms and plastic bags, to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO HAILS RELEASE OF US PRISONER IN BELARUS AS CONTROVERSY HANGS OVER NATION’S ELECTION

The move came in response to Trump’s executive order, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” issued last week directing a sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.

The State Department said Sunday that Rubio was initiating a review of “all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.”

“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas,” a State Department spokesperson said Sunday.

“The mandate from the American people was clear – we must refocus on American national interests,” the statement added. “The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?’”

The wind propels refrigerant gas-filled condoms attached to incendiary devices into Israeli territory after being released by a group of masked Palestinians near the Israel-Gaza border. (Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Rubio had specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.

On Monday, at least 56 senior USAID officials were placed on leave pending an investigation into alleged efforts to thwart Trump’s orders, the Associated Press reported, citing a current official and a former official at USAID.

An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by the AP said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.” “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.

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The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the former USAID official said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

January 28, 2025
Rubio’s State Dept caps migration-heavy 1st week with Colombia deportation win: ‘America will not back down’

A diplomatic victory over Colombia capped a busy week for the U.S. State Deptment under new Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who oversaw an agency that quickly made border security and immigration a top priority — racking up a flurry of actions in the space of a week.

After Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to take U.S. deportation flights carrying Colombian nationals on Sunday, Rubio announced the immediate suspension of the issuing of visas in the country, as well as travel sanctions on government officials.

“Measures will continue until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens,” Rubio said. “America will not back down when it comes to defending its national security interests.”

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President JD Vance in the Vice Presidential Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Within hours, Colombia had backed down and agreed to what the White House said were the terms provided by President Donald Trump. However, the administration said that visa sanctions would remain in effect until the deportations were received.

The diplomatic clash was a strong finish to what has been an immigration-focused week for not only the administration as a whole, but also the State Department. The agency was involved in multiple instructions and moves on visa issuance, migration and funding to foreign organizations.

On Rubio’s first day in office, the department instructed consular officers to put national security first when reviewing visas and ordered the department to implement enhanced vetting for visa applications from countries where there are concerns about a heightened national security risk.

NEW SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO PAUSES REFUGEE OPERATIONS, RAMPS UP VISA VETTING

He would later go on to declare the administration’s priorities, which focused on ending mass migration and ramping up border security as top priorities.

Migrants who were deported from the U.S. stand on El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, late Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

“First, we must curb mass migration and secure our borders. The State Department will no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage mass migration,” Rubio said.  “Our diplomatic relations with other countries, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, will prioritize securing America’s borders, stopping illegal and destabilizing migration, and negotiating the repatriation of illegal immigrants.”

Separately, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that a worldwide cable clarified that officials must resist pressures to speed up visa or passport processing at the expense of security concerns.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The State Department then also paused all new obligations of funding for foreign aid programs through either the State Dept. or U.S. Agency for International Development. There are longstanding concerns by conservatives that those programs can exacerbate mass migration.

On refugee admissions, the department suspended the Refugee Admissions Program — in response to an executive order by President Trump. It also issued a worldwide alert announcing the upcoming changes to birthright citizenship in response to another Trump order.

Since then, the department has worked with other agencies on border security and the implementation of the birthright citizenship order, including working to cancel a green card for a Moroccan terrorist, the official said.

That cooperation was on display on Sunday when multiple agencies worked together to deal with the disagreement with Colombia.

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“As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security,” Rubio said.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

January 28, 2025