Marco Rubio dares Trump’s ‘America First’ critics to defend putting US second

WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of State Marco Rubio isn’t holding back when it comes to defending President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. He pressed critics to spell out why the United States should ever treat other countries’ interests as more important than its own.

Sitting down with Breitbart News, Rubio called the idea of putting American interests first just common sense and dismissed the criticism as out of touch. The conversation unfolded at the State Department on Thursday. Rubio spoke at length about Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly, making it clear that he sees the administration’s approach as both practical and necessary.

Marco Rubio challenges critics to defend putting America second

“I know that people in the media, not this media but other media, like to criticize the term ‘America First’ as some sort of evil thing,” Rubio said when asked to detail what America First means for foreign policy.

“Let me ask people: How many candidates would be elected if they went out and told the American people, ‘My job is to put America second, or America third, or America last.’ If they don’t like America First, they should have the guts to go out there and tell people, ‘I am running for office on the belief that our foreign policy should be driven by America second or America third.’”

He challenged those critics to make their position clear to voters, asking how many candidates would win elections by promising to put the country second, third or last.

The secretary said everyone, even the critics of "America First," should get behind the idea of putting national interests first.

He explained that the administration sees this approach as a smart way to handle foreign relations, not a signal that they’re turning away from international ties.

“No one ever does that because I think at its core everyone understands that our foreign policy, which is what I can speak about, has to be about what is good for America,” he explained. “I think every country should do that for their own countries, and foreign relations is how you untangle the differences.”

Rubio pointed out that this doesn’t mean leaving allies out in the cold or ignoring international cooperation; it just means whenever there’s a disagreement, America’s interests come first.

Marco Rubio says America First can benefit allies

Rubio made the case that prioritizing American interests doesn’t just help the US; it actually supports its allies and bolsters the West as a whole.

He emphasized that America plans to leverage its economic, military, and cultural strengths to push its own agenda, all while staying connected with other nations.

“So I think the president’s basically saying common sense, which is our foreign policy and what we do around the world, is going to be driven by what’s good for America,” Rubio said. “Now we would argue that what is good for America is probably also good for many of our allies as well, and in those instances in which what’s good for us and what’s good for someone we like are not exactly aligned, then we’ll work on it with diplomacy and try to manage all of that.”

“But in the end, America First is common sense,” he reiterated.

He also made it clear: the US won’t let international institutions or the global order come before its national interests anymore.

Rubio also maintained that critics underestimate the consequences of abandoning the America First approach, suggesting that the United States could otherwise lose its standing as a global superpower.

“America First, meaning we’re going to always do what’s right for America before anything else.”

“We’re going to put it before the UN. We’re going to put it before the global commons, or whatever you want to call it, the global order that people worshiped around here for a very long time,” he continued.

“We’re not against any of those things. We’re just not going to put them ahead of American interests anymore. That’s what the president’s doing, and it offends a lot of people in these think tanks and editorial writers. But if we had listened to them, I mean, at this point, America would be a middle power,” Rubio concluded.