The United States wants to “partner” with countries Western Hemisphereincluding Canada, to collectively address issues such as narco-terrorism and mass migration – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday.
At a wide-ranging, lengthy news conference to mark the end of his first year as America's top diplomat, Rubio answered several questions about the new Trump administration. national security strategy that seeks to restore US leadership and dominance in the hemisphere.
The strategy, which sets out a desire to “enlist the support” of countries in the Western Hemisphere to achieve US policy goals in the region, raised the alarm in Canada about these countries becoming American so-called “vassal states.”
Rubio, who is also US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, said he was involved in developing the strategy and said the whole goal was to protect American national interests.
Asked how the strategy would affect relations with other hemispheric powers such as Canada and Mexico, Rubio suggested that these and other countries in the region share the same goal of safety and security.
“We want to work with as many people as we can – they face the same threats as we do,” he said, pointing to violence and corruption in parts of Mexico as examples of the threat posed by transnational drug cartels. a threat that Canada also faces.
“They (Mexico) recognize this, so they cooperate with us. Of course, we want to work with other governments in the region to confront this problem, and in most cases we have room for cooperation.”
Trump's strategy in the Western Hemisphere has led to recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela, which Rubio repeatedly insisted Friday are aimed at stopping the drug trade, not removing President Nicolas Maduro from power.
“It is clear that the current status quo with the Venezuelan regime is intolerable to the United States, a status quo in which they … are not just cooperating, but collaborating and engaging in activities that threaten the national interests of the United States,” he said. “So yes, our goal is to change that dynamic.
Get the latest national news
For breaking news updates affecting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.
“We have an illegitimate regime,” he added. It's a comment he's made several times, pointing both to last year's disputed presidential election and the U.S. indictment against Maduro.
In an interview with NBC News on Friday, Trump did not rule out war with Venezuela.
Rubio said he would not speculate on whether the United States would take any additional actions that would legally require congressional approval. He said that “nothing has happened yet” that would require such approval “or cross the threshold of war.”
He would not comment directly when asked about it. US media reports that Britain and Canada have distanced themselves. from deadly – and controversial – boat strikes in the Caribbean against vessels suspected of drug smuggling, over refusal or restriction of intelligence sharing, and whether it harms relations with those allies.
However, he suggested that the reports were false and that the US did not need foreign intelligence to carry out operations or determine their legality.
“Look, I read lies every day,” he said, telling the assembled reporters: “You guys get lied to sometimes.”
“We have the capabilities for boat strikes,” he added, “and that's one of the reasons you've seen such a massive deployment of forces in the region is to be able to gather intelligence and paint a picture that we can justify to the lawyers on the basis of the law. So I'm very confident in these efforts, they've been very successful.”
Ottawa has previously said that the Canadian military and government are not involved in US operations.
Rubio's news conference came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his year-end report to reporters in Moscow, where he stood firm in his position that the war in Ukraine will end with Russia gaining Ukrainian lands either by force or through a negotiated settlement.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials will meet this weekend in Miami with Middle Eastern mediators for further talks.
Rubio has said there will be no peace deal unless both Ukraine and Russia agree to its terms, making it impossible for the United States to force an agreement on anyone. Instead, the US is trying to “see if we can push both sides towards a common position.”
Asked whether the United States would help defend Europe, whose leaders are increasingly concerned about Russian aggression and invasion, from possible attack, Rubio said the commitment to collective self-defense had not wavered.
“Article 5 of the NATO alliance is important, and the president has confirmed that,” he said. “We believe that this is a very strong deterrent against any of these fears or concerns that any of our allies in the region may have. And the president has made it clear that we are committed to NATO, we are committed to the alliance, and our commitment is not just rhetorical.
“The only thing we ask, and it is not unfair, is that our alliance partners improve their own capabilities… the truth is that NATO is a key defense alliance and agreement that has brought stability to the European continent. We believe it is stronger today than ever.”
This year, Canada joined NATO allies in pledging to spend five percent of its GDP on defense by 2035, 3.5 percent of which would come from core military investments.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has increased defense spending since taking office in March and has pledged that Canada will meet NATO's previous defense spending target of two per cent this year.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
