Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attempting to reassure uneasy allies that the United States still stands behind NATO — even as cracks inside the alliance are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore following the Trump administration’s military confrontation with Iran.
Speaking Friday in Italy after meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Rubio described himself as “a strong supporter of NATO,” while simultaneously criticizing several European countries for refusing to fully cooperate with recent U.S. military operations.
“I’ve been a strong supporter of NATO throughout my career in the Senate and even now,” Rubio told reporters.
But the secretary quickly made clear that support for the alliance comes with expectations.
“The point of being in NATO,” Rubio explained, “is for allies to help in case of contingencies.”
Then he pointed directly at countries that he said failed to do so when the United States launched strikes tied to the escalating conflict with Iran.
“We had a contingency,” Rubio said. “And some countries in Europe — some countries in Europe like Spain, as an example — denied us the use of those bases for a very important contingency.”
According to Rubio, those decisions hindered the mission and exposed growing tensions between Washington and parts of Europe over how far allies are willing to go in supporting U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
The comments come as President Trump continues escalating his criticism of NATO members he believes are not fully aligned with American strategic interests. Trump has repeatedly mocked the alliance as a “paper tiger” and floated reducing or removing U.S. troop deployments from countries such as Spain and Italy.
Rubio declined to announce any changes regarding American forces stationed overseas but emphasized that such decisions ultimately belong to the president.
“The president of the United States is always going to act on what’s in the best interest of the United States,” Rubio said.
And he notably refused to rule out additional confrontational rhetoric from Trump moving forward.
“The president will always speak clearly about how he feels about the US and US policy,” Rubio added.
Despite the underlying tension, Rubio spent much of the Italy visit trying to maintain a warmer diplomatic tone with both Meloni and Pope Leo XIV after Trump previously criticized European leaders for what he viewed as weak support during the Iran conflict.
Rubio arrived bearing gifts, including a crystal football engraved with the State Department seal for the pope.
Meloni, meanwhile, presented Rubio with a family ancestry document tracing his roots to Italy’s Piemonte region in the north of the country.
The secretary appeared genuinely touched by the gesture.
Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, joked that discovering his Italian heritage gave him an excuse to return to Italy and finally learn a third language.
“I need to learn a third language,” he said, noting that Italian should come easier because of his Spanish background.
Still, beneath the friendly exchanges, the political balancing act facing European leaders was unmistakable.
Meloni described the meeting cautiously as “a frank dialogue” between allies defending their own national interests while recognizing “how precious Western unity is.”
