Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, looks on ahead of a group photo at the Heads of states dinner, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. is leading a large U.S. delegation this week to the Munich Security Conference where increasingly nervous European leaders are hoping for at least a brief reprieve from President Donald Trump’s often inconsistent policies and threats that haveKey Democrat accuses the Justice Department of ‘spying’ on lawmakers reviewing Epstein filesTrump’s defamation lawsuit against the BBC is set to go to trial in 2027, US judge saysat the same venue with a verbal assault on many of America’s closest allies in Europe, accusing them ofwith left-leaning domestic programs and not taking responsibility for their own defense, Rubio plans to take a less contentious but philosophically similar approach when he addresses the annual gathering of world leaders and national security officials Saturday, U.
S. officials say. The State Department’s formal announcement of Rubio’s trip offered no details about his two-day stop in Munich, after which he will visit Slovakia and Hungary. But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the trip, said America’s top diplomat intends to focus on areas of cooperation on shared global and regional concerns, including in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as China, an economic powerhouse seeking to Should that be the case, many in the audience may be relieved after being buffeted first by Vance’s blunt rebukes last year and then a series ofVance’s speech last year was “really a shock moment,” said Claudia Major, a senior vice president at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. “It was perceived as the first very clear statement of what the new Trump administration was about,” namely that “Europeans are not partners any longer.” “There is a big doubt whether the basis is still there and whether we still share the same vision for the trans-Atlantic relationship,” she said. “The longer this kind of estrangement goes, the more difficult it will be to re-find a solid relationship.”“Transatlantic relations are currently in a significant crisis of confidence and credibility,” he said this week. But he also expressed hope that Rubio and the dozens of U.S. lawmakers expected to attend the meeting will offer a less dire and dour prognosis for the future.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whom Rubio will meet Friday, has tried to adopt a middle line to deal with Trump’s unpredictability and insistence on transactional relations., striving for greater “technological independence” and boosting its economic growth. But he stressed that “as democracies, we are partners and allies and not subordinates” of the U.S. Some, like French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, appear to have all but given up on Trump and the United States. Both Canada and France opened consulates in the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, last week in a Macron warned this week that tensions between Europe and the U.S. could intensify after the recent “Greenland moment.” He described the Trump administration as “openly anti-European” and seeking the European Union’s “dismemberment.” “When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement,” he said in an interview with several European newspapers. “I think we’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working.” Macron noted a “double crisis: We have the Chinese tsunami on the trade front, and we have minute-by-minute instability on the American side.”last month at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland — has made no secret of his frustration and impatience with the Republican president. Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the U.S. He vowed toand serve as a reminder of centuries of power politics in which diplomacy was subordinate to the use of military force. “Greenland is to Trump as, essentially, Ukraine is to Putin, although obviously without the devastating war at this stage,” said Fiona Hill, a Russia expert who served on the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term in office. In the meantime, as Trump tries to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and seek a nuclear deal with Iran, Europeans are increasingly uneasy abouta 27-member group of world leaders tasked first with handling the Gaza peace agreement but eventually envisaged as a vehicle for Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Norway and Sweden, among others, have either declined to accept or have not yet signed on to the board, which willAssociated Press writers Emma Burrows in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.Wednesday’s light rain in San Diego County could be followed by much bigger system Amid budget crisis, San Diego is foregoing millions in potential revenue from its golf courses, audit findsAfter second trial, jury convicts San Diego County deputy who seriously injured restrained inmateNavy interested in expanding shipyard capacity in San Diego to remain battle ready Daniel Sullivan is back with a new solar company in San Diego. But state officials are wrangling with him.
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Munich Security Conference will present a new test of US-Europe tiesSecretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a large U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference this week. Increasingly nervous European leaders are hoping for at least a brief reprieve from President Donald Trump’s often inconsistent policies and threats that have roiled transatlantic relations and the post-World War II international order.
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Europe warily awaits Rubio at Munich Security Conference as Trump roils transatlantic tiesSecretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a large U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference this week.
Read more »
Europe warily awaits Rubio at Munich Security Conference as Trump roils transatlantic tiesSecretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a large U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference this week.
Read more »