Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex
When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a speech at Europe’s biggest security conference in the German city of Munich on February 14, leaders from across the continent were relieved by its content. In contrast to the previous year, when US vice-president J.D. Vance had launched a scathing attack on European-style democracy, Rubio’s tone was far more friendly and conciliatory.
He described the US as a “child of Europe”, assuring European leaders that his country was intent on building a new world order together with what he called “our cherished allies and our oldest friends”. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “very much reassured” by these remarks.
However, Rubio also repeated several of the Trump administration’s familiar criticisms of Europe’s approach to immigration and climate action, cautioning that the US is prepared to chart its new path alone. And while he claimed his country wants to reinvigorate the transtlantic alliance, Rubio questioned Europe’s will and capacity to do so.
The speech underscored the balance Rubio must strike between aligning himself with the political priorities of Donald Trump and reassuring European partners. Unlike much of the Trump administration, the secretary of state understands that the US needs to be more diplomatic with Europe to achieve its foreign policy objectives.
This isn’t the case with Vance. One year ago, he chastised Europe for its migration policies and accused its governments of suppressing free speech and populist parties. He claimed that the greatest threat to Europe’s security came “from within”, rather than Russia. According to Vance, Europe had become too politically correct, abandoning fundamental values in the process.
Vance’s speech came as a shock to European leaders in the audience. They were not completely prepared for such a blistering attack, having thought he would focus his address largely on the war in Ukraine. The speech drew praise from Moscow, including from former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and triggered a year of turmoil in transatlantic relations.
In his speech, Vance echoed Trump’s view of Europe – but it’s a view that matches his own. The vice-president has never really respected Europe. This was made clear in a series of leaked messages between Vance and other US national security officials in March 2025.
When Vance discussed plans for a military strike against Houthi forces in Yemen, which he noted posed a larger threat to European shipping than American trade, he lamented: “I hate bailing out Europe again.” Though he wrote in his 2016 memoir that visiting the UK was a childhood dream, Vance had become a Euro sceptic.
This contrasts with Rubio, who has traditionally been a strong supporter of Europe and the transatlantic alliance. Although ideologically hawkish in foreign policy, he has never been an isolationist – and has consistently backed traditional collective security institutions such as Nato.
In 2015, Rubio declared that the US must make a tough response to any Russian aggression against its Nato ally Turkey. And in 2019, he was part of a bi-partisan effort to prevent any US president from leaving the Nato alliance. He said: “It is critical to our national security and the security of our allies in Europe that the United States remain engaged and play an active role in Nato.”
This stance initially put Rubio at odds with Trump. But after Trump’s election defeat in 2020, Rubio recalibrated and slowly gained his trust. And since entering Trump’s inner circle, he has thrived. Rubio now serves as the president’s national security advisor as well as secretary of state, and has gained tremendous influence in foreign affairs.
Rubio’s delicate balance
To gain so much power, Rubio has had to be ideologically flexible. In Latin America, where his hardline stance against socialist regimes strongly aligns with Trump’s foreign policy goals, Rubio is in the driver’s seat and has largely determined what the US’s interests are. This has included pressing for the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, taking a tough stance on Cuba, and pressuring Panama to push out Chinese influence.
But outside of Latin America, Rubio has adopted a more measured communication style. He has engaged in damage control while ultimately clarifying and reinforcing Trump’s positions.
Trump prefers a world where the US acts unilaterally and ignores the rules-based international order. This has been illustrated by the US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025, as well as the more recent capture of Maduro and threats to take control of Greenland from Denmark.
Rubio tried to defuse tensions with Denmark in January, claiming the US merely wanted to purchase Greenland rather than intervene militarily. He has also toned down his hawkishness on Russia, a country Trump has sought to forge closer relations with. In 2016, Rubio had stated that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, posed the biggest threat to global security.
As recently as 2024, Rubio praised the bravery of Ukrainians in their fight against Russia. But in his Munich address, he barely mentioned Ukraine, on which Trump has been applying pressure to end the war. Rubio also did not appear at a gathering with European allies immediately before the conference to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, claiming there was a scheduling issue.
Later, he reportedly offered Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky some assurances of US commitment. Despite also warning that Ukraine would need to accept hard concessions to end the war, this was an improvement from Vance’s past questioning of why the US was spending millions of dollars defending a “few miles of territory”.
Ultimately, while Rubio’s speech in Munich was less divisive and shocking than Vance’s a year earlier, it does not resemble any significant change in US foreign policy under Trump. The US has some shared interests with Europe, but not shared values.
Natasha Lindstaedt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. In his Munich speech, Marco Rubio balanced loyalty to Trump with reassurances to Europe – https://theconversation.com/in-his-munich-speech-marco-rubio-balanced-loyalty-to-trump-with-reassurances-to-europe-275983