Secretary of State Marco Rubio With Sid Rosenberg of WAMBC Radio “Sid and Friends in the Morning”

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, good morning, pal. How are you?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I'm good. Glad to be with you on the radio again.

QUESTION: I'm so happy to have you too. And I've got to tell you, with all the issues in the world today, Marco, what are you going to do to fix what I saw the first two weeks against the Raiders and the 49ers?

SECRETARY RUBIO: (Laughter.) Well, I think they're tanking on - I mean, look, they - if you look at that team, like the majority of their salary cap is tied into players that aren't even on the roster. So they're going to have to go into the valley before they can get to the mountaintop there. It's going to be a rough year.

QUESTION: It looks that way - talking about, of course, Mr. Rubio's beloved Miami Dolphins. They look rough. But listen, football is not the main story today. The main story is something you deserve congratulations for, you and President Trump. You guys this morning, at the United Nations, both signed an agreement with the leaders of Greenland and Denmark. How about this? President Trump talked about this for months, the deal with Greenland. Now you guys have made it happen, and I think it's a permanent deal, isn't that right?

SECRETARY RUBIO: It is. It is. It is and remember, look, from the very beginning what the President's been saying - he actually started talking about this in the first term - is Greenland is important for us from the point of view of national security. Like, we can never afford to wake up one day in a world where the Chinese have bases there, the Russians, anybody. And so for us that's very critical, and it's a very vulnerable place because it's a huge piece of land, it's a huge territory, and not a big population and so forth.

And so this deal does that. I mean, it basically is a permanent deal. It allows us to put as many military bases as we need in order to defend everything. It creates an investment screening process so that before any company can go in there and invest, they have to be screened by us and by Denmark to make sure that they're not linked to the Chinese or any non-NATO enemy country kind of thing, adversary. And it's a great deal; it's phenomenal. It never would have happened without the President making it a priority, and we'll sign it today. And it's one of those rare moments in which everybody's happy. It's a great deal for Denmark, great deal for Greenland, and obviously, great deal for the security of the United States.

QUESTION: And right off the bat we've got two bases, is that right, Marco? Are we going to put there two?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we're working through that and we'll work with them too on it, but at least two. We have one that we had years ago that could be restarted. We have another one that could be built up, and then a lot of this is going to depend on missile defense. I mean, if you look at where - if missiles were ever launched at the U.S., they would come over the Arctic Circle and over the Arctic region, and having that presence there will be the first line of defense against that.

So we'll let the experts at the Department of War sort of figure out what we need to have there. But the fact that we have the opportunity to do it, that this is now an option for us - forever, permanent - is phenomenal. It's a great, great achievement and, unfortunately, will not get the coverage it deserves from the mainstream media, but I think generations of American leaders and people will be very grateful that this deal was made today.

QUESTION: Of course. In fact, nothing will get the coverage from the mainstream media because, as far as we're concerned, they don't exist. They're not invited to the party. But for a while there, Mr. Secretary, it seemed like the people in Greenland weren't thrilled about this deal, but clearly they've come along, yes?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. I mean, look, the deal is a good deal for them, right? And look, there's an issue there beyond just the United States. There is a movement in Greenland that wants the option to one day become independent, and this deal stands whether they go independent or not. So it's not just with us. There's a rub there with regards to Denmark as well, which made things a little bit more complicated, because it's not the people that hate America. They simply want the option to one day become an independent country if they so choose to do that. That will be up to them. But whether that happens or not, this deal covers it, in essence. It will still be a deal, and that's why making Greenland a part of the deal was important as well. They signed onto it as well.

QUESTION: Love it. All right Mr. Secretary of State, let's get to Iran. It's still out there; it's still kind of happening. I know the President now has said he is willing to meet with the Iranian president, which is a very, very big deal. So where are we exactly in that conflict, and do you think that meeting between Trump and their president will actually happen?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, what the President said is he's willing to meet with anybody. I mean, he will because he thinks talking and engaging is important even if you're not going to agree with them on it. And so nothing is scheduled as we speak now; that could change. I don't know if it will, I'm not saying it will, but in the end we have to always remind people what this is all about. There's a lot of talk about the straits and this and that. This is about one central issue. Those lunatics and that radical Shia cleric regime can never have a nuclear weapon. And every American president says that, every world leader we talk to agrees, but someone's got to do something about it. Eventually something has to be done about it, and this President is doing something about it. And that is what a lot of people have forgotten, and if you think - I'm not saying they're not high now, and no one likes high gas prices; no one likes high oil prices and diesel and all that. But it would be triple that. If Iran had a nuclear weapon, they could do whatever they wanted. They could close the straits and they would tell the world you can't stop us; we control the straits; we'll do whatever want because we have a nuclear weapon, and we'll nuke you if you try to stop us. So imagine living - and living in a world like that.

These are people - look how they've massacred their own people. If they're willing to massacre their own people, what do you think they'd do to us or to Israel or to their neighbors, their Sunni neighbors for example? So everyone agrees they can't have a nuclear weapon. The only thing that's changed is that we have a President that's willing to do something about it.

QUESTION: And wanting to do something - I believe - I could be wrong; I'm not the Secretary of State or the President; I'm just a radio guy. But I'm pretty smart. I think eventually we're not going to have a choice but to really unleash our might on the Iranians - not to kill civilians, which people talk about all the time. President Trump's a good person. He doesn't want to do that. And we will limit that, just like the Israelis do, that genocide nonsense. But eventually, there's going to have to come a time when there is a real hit to end this thing. I can't think of any other way to end it, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I never speculate about what might be done or might not be done for a lot of different reasons. But number one, I want to be clear, the United States never targets civilians, ever. That doesn't mean that in a war - unfortunately, tragically, and in a heartbreaking way - some civilians get caught in the crossfire. But we never target civilians. The United States doesn't do that.

You know who does target civilians? Iran. Iran targets civilians. They launch rockets into - going after embassies and hotels where they knew there were civilians, okay, because embassies are staffed by diplomats, okay. From what I can recall, it's the first time in modern history that any nation-state has deliberately targeted diplomatic facilities, and they've done that routinely - directly and through their proxies in the region. They do target civilians; we don't do that. They target civilians with terrorism. When these terrorists blow a place up or whatever, it's civilians they're trying to terrorize. So that's who we're dealing with here. But we don't target civilians.

But look, at one - here's what people need to know: Number one, more oil is going through the straits now than they were two, three months ago, and it's growing every day, because our military has done a great job of clearing it of mines, protecting the ships that are going through, and more and more oil is flowing. And that eventually will begin to impact global prices on oil and gas. The second thing that's happening is Iran's getting no oil out. We have a total blockade. They can't get - they haven't been able to a single ship out now in weeks, and it's hurting them. And number three is we are imposing crushing sanctions. And every time they try to find a loophole, we find the loophole, and we close the loophole. So they are under extraordinary economic pressure. Let's see what happens after that. But I can tell you they're going to be poorer and they're going to have less money to spend on terrorism and on a nuclear weapon as a result of these sanctions and the blockade.

QUESTION: That's good news. So Mr. Secretary, on Thursday I'm going to be at the UN. I'm going there with Bibi. I'm going to watch the Israeli prime minister once again try to educate the world and try to convince a world that's getting dumber every day that Israel is not committing genocide. They're not the ones that are aggressive; they're just defending themselves. Look, I know the President met with Mamdani yesterday, and I've had very honest conversations with President Trump, who I love dearly - like I love you - about Mamdani. I can't stand him; he's a bad guy, very, very bad guy, very, okay. And he still wants to arrest Bibi Netanyahu, knowing full well he can't do it. He still said it yesterday. Why do you think the mayor continues to say that nonsense?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, first, he wishes he could. That's number one. I think, number two, because he's speaking to some constituency that's at the core of his political support. But he's not going to do it. He can't do it. He doesn't have the ability or the legal authority to do it. And so I think some - people in politics say things to show off.

QUESTION: That's the bottom line. I do want to do one more thing about Israel and then we'll get to Ukraine -

SECRETARY RUBIO: And I got to go in a couple minutes, because I got to go to the UN. I apologize. Because I've got to get there before the President. They close all the streets - you guys know that - when -

QUESTION: Okay. So give me -

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: Give me the latest of Ukraine/Russia.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: Well, I know Zelenskyy - the President wants Zelenskyy to a ceasefire, maybe, in this - the energy deal. Tell me about the latest between Ukraine and Russia.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look, I mean, the latest is we don't have a deal right now. But it makes all the sense in the world. This war is not good for either side. It's obviously not good for Ukraine, and it's terrible for Russia. I mean, they're not doing well in this war. They just aren't. So it makes all the sense in the world to stop it. But unfortunately, in foreign policy and in matters such as this, sometimes what makes sense isn't necessarily what happens.

So what the President has said is we're going to continue to be in a position to - wherever there's an opportunity for us to make a difference and bridge the divide between these two sides, the President's ready to do it. And we're going to keep trying to do it. But obviously, that's not where we are right now, today. I'm hopeful that will change, and I think eventually it will. This war will have to come to an end at some point, and that war in Ukraine is going to end through a negotiated deal. That's how it's going to end, okay. It's not going to end through some overwhelming military victory by one side or the other. It will end through a negotiated deal. And the sooner that happens, the less people have to die and the less destruction there's going to be.

So that's what we're prepared to play a role in. We continue to engage both sides. He'll talk to Zelenskyy today. We got a team with - Steve and Jared went into Moscow and then to Kyiv a couple weeks ago and talked to them. We'll continue to stay engaged and searching always for the opportunity or an opening to make a difference and bring this thing to an end.

QUESTION: President Xi at the White House coming up on Thursday. The AI race still the big deal between the United States and China. I know Bessent is involved in that too. Is that basically the big story behind this dinner coming up?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I think there's more than that. Obviously, the trade issues are predominant, and there's a lot of other issues that'll be covered. But at the core of this is, no matter what our differences may be, the United States and China are the two largest economies in the world and the two most powerful countries in the world. So we have to communicate and be able to meet.

AI's become a feature over the last few weeks. I think we're all - the whole world is concerned about it, and I think the challenge with AI is it's going to happen. It's already happening, so the question is how do you benefit from the good things that it does and limit the bad things it can do - or prevent the bad things that it can do? And that - this has been true of every new innovation in human history, right? There's positives; there's negatives. You try to limit the negatives and you try to accentuate the positives. The problem with AI is it's developing so fast. When we came up with nuclear energy, that was a static thing. I mean, it wasn't changing every day. AI is changing. By the time you write some rules to control it, it's already changed ten times in terms of new models.

So that's the risk here. The risk is that thing - this thing is developing faster than our ability to mitigate it, the damage that it might do - and harness the benefits, too. And I think the whole world is - but no one wants to be left behind, either. So no one wants to be hurt by AI, but no country wants to be left behind, either. So there's the tension that we're going to have to work through.

QUESTION: Is the State Department still interested in designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we've done Muslim Brotherhood branches all over the world. Obviously, the law requires us to meet certain evidentiary standards, and so we're always collecting it. But we have to have enough evidence, because otherwise there'll be a congressional challenge or what have you. And we've done that already.

With CAIR it's a little different because it's a domestic organization. You have to find a link. Now, there are other elements of government that can go after them, because the links are clear domestically. You'd have to be able to prove definitively that there's a foreign link. And obviously, we're always looking into finding any foreign links to groups that support terrorism.

QUESTION: Last one - you've got to run. A lot of my friends and fans were mad at me last week because I went to visit JD Vance at the White House. You know why, Marco? They said to me: no, no, Rubio 2028. I said, listen, I love Marco. I'm friends with the guy for 16 years. I think he'd be a phenomenal president. But I really think he enjoys the Secretary of State job. That doesn't mean he's not going to run. Are you ready, willing, and prepared right now, right here with me, Marco, to say, "I'm running for president in 2028"? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RUBIO: (Laughter.) Nice try. Nice try. Actually, I have to stop talking about that whole thing, because I'm - I mean, I say this, it's not even - I do have two jobs; they're very important jobs. I - that's what I spend my whole time focused on. I know that sounds like a political answer, but it happens to be the truth. I'm aware people are saying these things, but I really don't want to talk about that stuff anymore. Nothing good comes of it. I'm focused on my job. That's what I want to do, that's what I intend to do as long as President Trump will have me.

QUESTION: You're the best ever. Go enjoy the speech and thank you for doing this. I really love you.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Okay. Thank you. (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: Thank you, Marco. All right, buddy.

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