Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to the Press

SECRETARY RUBIO:  What’s going on?

QUESTION:  Secretary, what will be your message in Doha today?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we want them to stay engaged.  Look, I think ultimately we would all prefer to see a negotiated end that leads to all the hostages being released, that leads to Hamas being disarmed and eliminated as a threat, and we think Qatar can play a very key role in that.  So we’re going there.  We have a close partnership with the Qataris.  In fact, we have an enhanced defense cooperation agreement which we’ve been working on and we’re on the verge of finalizing.  We want them to know how much we appreciate and respect all the time and work and effort they put in in the past to these negotiations, and we hope they’ll re-engage despite everything that’s happened.  We know they’re upset about it.

QUESTION:  Secretary, yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu declined to refuse to carry out further strikes on Hamas operatives.  As you know, there’s Hamas operating in Türkiye, in Egypt, in addition to Qatar.  What was your message on further strikes?  Was it, “Don’t do it again?”  Was it another message?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I’m not going to discuss the details of everything that we said.  That’s not the way you can conduct diplomacy or international relations, via press conference in that way.  But what I will say is this, is what I just said a moment ago:  We all prefer that this end with a negotiated settlement that leads to the release of every single hostage, both alive and deceased; that leads to the demilitarization and disarming of Hamas so they can no longer pose a threat, not just to Israel but everyone – these are barbarians, these are animals, in Hamas – and that leads us to a process of reconstructing Gaza, so the people of Gaza can have a life free of Hamas and the life that they – that’s much better than what they’ve experienced under Hamas.  That’s what we all prefer. 

We think Qatar can play a very key role in that.  We don’t want to see anything that undermines that.  So that’s why we added it to the trip.  They’re very – we – they’re close partners.  We work with them on a lot of things, and we want them to stay engaged despite being upset as they are with what happened last week.  And the President said he wasn’t happy to see that happen.  Nonetheless, all these problems are still here, and they’ve got to be fixed, and Qatar can play a key role in solving it.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary —

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, the major complaint of countries in Doha yesterday was that the United States holds a double standard when it comes to Israel, and it’s not holding Israel to account for its actions that they see as an escalation, the killing of civilians in Gaza.  What would be your message in Doha today to reassure –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, look, I mean, the civilians are being used as human shields by Hamas.  They’ve always done it.  That’s why they hide in tunnels and the civilians are on top.  That’s why they take hostages the way they have.  That’s why they’ll take more hostages if they can get their hands on them.

So the President wants to see it end.  He wants to see it end quickly.  And we’d prefer that it end quickly via negotiated settlement so all the fighting can stop and we can begin the very hard work as an international community – not just the United States – rebuilding Gaza and providing the people of Gaza a much better life, a much better life than what they’ve had under Hamas.  And we think our partners in the region could play a key role in that, and we hope they’ll stay engaged, and we think Qatar could play a very important role in that, as they’ve tried to do in the past.

QUESTION:  Is this a last chance for Hamas to avoid a broader Israeli move into Gaza City?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, as you saw, the Israelis have begun to take operations there.  So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen.  We don’t have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks.  So it’s a key moment, an important moment.  And again, our preference, our number-one choice, is that this ends through a negotiated settlement where Hamas says, “We’re going to demilitarize, we’re no longer going to pose a threat, we’re going to disband, we’re going to release every single hostage.”  By the way, none – there shouldn’t be a single hostage.  If you want to fight a war, you fight wars between combatants.  You don’t fight wars by taking civilians as human shields, and in this particular case with the hostages, they’re almost over two years now.  You – that – it’s – that’s a barbaric practice.  It’s an unacceptable practice.  The President called it out yesterday. 

So that’s what we prefer.  We want it to end that way.  We hope – we’ve done a lot of work.  Ambassador Witkoff has spent countless hours working on this.  We think the Qataris could play a very key role in making that happen.  That’s his preference, and that’s what we – how we want to see it.  Sometimes when you’re dealing with a group of savages like Hamas that’s not possible.  But we hope it could happen.  We’re going to do everything we can to see if it is.

QUESTION:  What’s your —

QUESTION:  Secretary, what’s your message to Israeli ministers who are calling for a partial or complete annexation of the West Bank?  And are you worried that the Abraham Accords could be in jeopardy?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, look, I mean, I think much of that is a reaction to several nations around the world deciding to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.  We warned them that we thought that was counterproductive.  We actually think it’s undermined negotiations, because it emboldened Hamas, and we think it undermines future prospects of peace in the region.  We thought it was unwise to do that, and I think you’re seeing that as a counterreaction.  It’s what we thought would happen.  We warned them that this kind of action would happen among some in Israeli government if they did what they did.

But right now we’re focused on how can we end what’s happening in Gaza.  How can we end Hamas, how can we get the hostages freed, and how can we create a framework so that the people of Gaza can have a much better life than they ever had under Hamas.  That’s what the President wants and that’s what we’re going to continue to work on.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, you said yesterday in an interview that you were looking at the social media of foreigners who may be speaking about Charlie Kirk in a – in a negative manner.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, it isn’t just about Charlie Kirk.  If you’re a foreigner and you’re out there celebrating the assassination of someone who was speaking somewhere, I mean, we don’t want you in the country.  Why would we want to give a visa to someone who think it’s good that someone was murdered in the public square?  That’s just common sense to me.

QUESTION:  And have you actually revoked any visas yet?  Have you taken that action?  And has any of that —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we’ve revoked visas of people.  I don’t know if we’ve revoked visas of people that are inside the country.  We’ve most certainly been denying visas.  I mean, think about it.  I want everybody to think about this for a moment, okay.  You’re out there celebrating the assassination – in cold blood – of someone, and then you want to come in to – why would we want anybody like that in our country, as a tourist, as anything?  We don’t want them here.

QUESTION:  But have you gone – specifically there’s been recommendations that have been given to secretary – to Deputy Secretary Landau on social media pointing to specific individuals.  Are you looking at those?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’ve got to go at process in all these.  And – but I’m sure there’ll be some that are revoked.  There’s no shortage of idiots around the world that have decided it’s a great idea to murder someone.  It’s – we don’t want people like that in our country.  By the way, it’s bad that we have people that are U.S. citizens that feel that way.  We can’t revoke – they don’t need a visa, they don’t have a visa.  But you’re a foreigner?  Why would we want to allow into the United States someone who is in favor of murder?  We don’t want pro-murder people in America.

QUESTION:  Secretary —

QUESTION:  Secretary, on Colombia, just briefly, with Colombia decertification.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  Do you see any path back for Colombia to revoke that decertification, to get back in good standing?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, Colombia’s been a great partner historically.  Unfortunately they have a president now that in addition to being erratic has not been a very good partner when it comes to taking on drug – the drug cartels.  So they just don’t meet the standard under his leadership.  I think we have willing partners.  If it was up to the military, the police – we’ve been working with them for decades.  It’s a great – good news story.  But they have bad leadership right now when it – especially on this issue of drugs.  But they can change.  They can be more cooperative.  And they can meet the criteria to get off the – get back on the list of certification.

QUESTION:  Secretary Rubio, next week is the United Nations General Assembly with the (inaudible) meetings.  Is there going to be any – some extra scrutiny of the foreign diplomats who come on visas to attend that?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  There’s already the Palestinian authorities.  I wonder if there are specific countries that may face extra scrutiny.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  I mean, I – we’re not going to let people into our country that are pro-terror.  We’re not going to let people into the country that want to create harm to the United States.  So there’s always scrutiny, and there’ll be more.  For the most part I think there’ll be plenty of people there, so – but I – if you’re, like, in favor of terrorism or murdering people in this country, we’re probably not going to let you in.

QUESTION:  Secretary —

QUESTION:  With this Gaza City offensive —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  What?

QUESTION:  With this Gaza City offensive, do you still – is it your still assessment that Hamas can be militarily defeated?  We’re at over 700 days of war.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we – they may not have a choice but to militarily defeat them.  I think the – if it wasn’t for hostages and civilians, they would’ve been defeated a long time ago.  But these guys hide behind civilians and they hide behind the hostages.  That’s why they took the hostages.  If not, this would have been – if there were no hostages and no civilians in the way, this war would’ve ended a year and a half ago.  So – but now it’s kind of at a break point.  I mean, you’re seeing what the Israelis are saying.  I mean, at some point this has to end and it has to end with Hamas’s defeat. 

Our hope is that we could still negotiate something where the fighting stopped, Hamas, is disarmed, and the hostages are all released, and we can rebuild – help rebuild Gaza – not just us, but the world – to give these people a better life than what they’ve ever had under these savages in Hamas.  That’s still our hope.  We’re going to do everything we can to try to achieve that.  It may not be possible, because dealing with Hamas is not easy.  These are very bad people.

QUESTION:  Ahead of the —

QUESTION:  Are you worried about the risks – the risks of a Gaza City offensive?  Some of the IDF – some Israeli officials —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah, and war is – I mean, war is risk.  I mean, there’s risk involved in wars.  There’s no good war, right?  We don’t like war.  The President doesn’t like war.  The only thing worse than a war is a protracted one that goes on forever and ever.  At some point this has to end.  At some point Hamas has to be defanged.  And we hope it can happen through negotiation.  But I think time, unfortunately, is running out in that regard.  It’s two and a half years, they still don’t release the hostages.  At some point Israel – it’s their war; they’re going to get to decide how they want to proceed, because they’re the ones that were attacked on October 7th.  But again, I want to reiterate, if there is a way to negotiate an end to this that leads to the release of the hostages and the elimination of Hamas as a threat, we’re for that.  That’s what we want to see happen. 

QUESTION:  Do —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  We’re going to continue to do everything we can until there’s nothing left to do.  But we hope we can achieve something.  But it’s going to be hard.  It’s not going to be easy.

QUESTION:  Who exactly are you having the negotiations with?  Some of the Hamas officials were in Qatar to discuss the proposal that the President had given –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  They were attacked by Israel.  So who is it that, in Hamas, who you’re actually trying to talk with —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, I mean, whoever has the authority to release the hostages.

QUESTION:  Right.  Are we talking about the Qatar-mediated talks, or Egypt-mediated talks?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Qatar will play – yeah, I mean, the Qataris and the Egyptians have worked together on this, and they’re important mediators.  If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one.  They’re the ones that can do it.  I don’t know if they can after what happened, but I think they could.  If anyone can, they can.  There’s no other country in the world that can play that role.  And we hope they can.  We’re – if they can, we want to be supportive of it.

QUESTION:  There’s a sense —

QUESTION:  Are you going to ask Qatar to have Hamas no longer be within their country?  Are you still asking them to —

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, we’re going to ask Qatar to continue to do what they’ve done, and that we appreciate very much, and that is play a constructive role in trying to bring this to an end.  Obviously, they have to decide if they want to do that after last week or not.  But we want them to know that if there’s any country in the world that could help end this through a negotiation, it’s Qatar, and we appreciate that.  And if there’s a chance to do it, we want to encourage them to do it. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary –

SECRETARY RUBIO:  They’ll have to make that decision.

QUESTION:  Mr. Secretary, ahead of the state visit to the UK, the British prime minister has fired Ambassador Mandelson over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.  Obviously, questions remaining over the President’s acquaintance with Epstein.  Does that make the visit awkward?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  No, I don’t – I don’t – well, I think, the – the UK can decide – it’s their ambassador.  They want to recall him, that’s their choice to do that.  That won’t change the nature of the visit.  It’s an important visit; it’s one of our strongest allies in the world, a very special relationship, and I think it makes a lot of sense for the President to visit the UK.  They invited him to come.  It’s a very unique honor.  I think it’s the only president that’s had two state dinners, and so it’s a big honor, and they’re an important ally and partner.

All right, let’s go.  We’re going to be late.

QUESTION:  On Ukraine briefly.  I mean, is there a redline that Putin could cross that would actually convince Trump to trigger sanctions?

SECRETARY RUBIO:  That’s the President’s decision to make, and he’s talked about – look, no leader in the world has done more to try to end that war than President Trump has.  Multiple calls with Putin, multiple meetings with Zelenskyy, including probably next week again in New York.  And so the President remains committed – there’s – it’s – he inherited this three-and-a-half-year-old war from the Biden administration.  He’s trying to do everything possible to bring it to an end.  We’ve been working closely with our partners in Europe on security guarantees, because that’s going to be necessary in any negotiated settlement, and he’s going to keep trying. 

If he can – if peace is possible, he wants to achieve it.  At some point the President may conclude it’s not possible.  He’s not there yet, but he could get to that point.  But he’s got to really go the extra mile, if there’s a way to end this war – he just wants it to stop.  Thousands and thousands of people dying.  The casualty rate, for the Russians – I think in July they lost 20,000 soldiers.  And then of course you talk about the suffering of civilians all throughout Ukraine.  Every single night, the drone attacks, the air attacks, the destruction.  It’s going to take a generation to rebuild the country.  He wants the war to end, and if we can play a role – he’s the only leader in the world, the only leader in the world that can talk to both the Ukrainians, the Europeans, and also to the Russians, is President Trump.  He’s the only one that can.  And he’s not going to easily forfeit that role because he’s the only one that can play it.  If somehow he were to disengage from this or sanction Russia and say, “I’m done,” then there’s no one left in the world that could possibly mediate the end.  Now, maybe we get to that point.  We hope not, because it’s a really bad war and he wants it to end.

All right, let’s go.  Thank you.

QUESTION:  Thank you.

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