Trump focused on peace while Europe pushes for war: Rubio
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump is committed to peace, while European leaders appear increasingly supportive of military action.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media during a meeting with the President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, at the US Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, on May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that US President Donald Trump is committed to pursuing peace across global conflict zones, while European leaders are increasingly leaning toward militarized solutions.
Rubio made the remarks during a speech at the Kennedy Center Board Event.
"I tell people we have a president of peace," Rubio said, referring to Trump, while recalling a recent conversation with a cardinal ahead of a papal mass conducted by Pope Leo XIV.
“One of the cardinals I was meeting with the day before the papal mass said to me: ‘It’s very unusual for us. We have an American president who wants peace, and some Europeans who are constantly talking about doing war stuff.’ So the world is kind of upside down in their minds right now. And usually it’s the other way around,” Rubio emphasized.
According to Rubio, the current state of international relations is unusual, as the US, traditionally more assertive on military issues, is now led by a president actively seeking to de-escalate conflicts. In contrast, he noted, some European governments are taking more aggressive positions on global military affairs.
Rubio acknowledged that the US continues to invest significantly in national security, but emphasized that the administration ultimately hopes to reduce those expenditures.
“Washington would prefer to ensure a situation in which this money could be directed to the public sector of the economy,” he said.
Is Trump backtracking on efforts to end the Ukraine war?
On a related note, following a two-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Trump struck an unexpectedly optimistic tone about the future of US-Russia relations, posting on Truth Social about the prospect of "large-scale TRADE" once the "catastrophic ‘bloodbath’" in Ukraine ends.
According to Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, the call was so warm that neither side wanted to be the first to hang up.
What startled many in Kiev and Brussels was not just the tone of the conversation, but the substance.
Trump appeared to back away from applying any pressure on Moscow to end the war, and suggested the US would no longer act as mediator. Instead, he floated the idea of the Vatican stepping in, naming Pope Leo XIV as a possible host for talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was blunt in his response, warning that the US stepping aside would embolden Russia. “The only one who benefits from that is Putin,” Zelensky said.
This shift was seen as a pivotal moment. The president who had once vowed to end the Ukraine war on his first day in office now seemed ready to abandon that promise, and Ukraine with it.
