Rubio's speech to European allies takes softer tone but sticks to Trump's firm stance

MUNICH (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a reassuring connection to America’s allies connected Saturday, striking a little assertive but inactive steadfast code astir the administration’s intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic confederation and propulsion its priorities aft much than a twelvemonth of President Donald Trump’s often-hostile rhetoric toward accepted allies.

Reminding his assemblage astatine the yearly Munich Security Conference astir America’s centuries-long roots successful Europe, Rubio said the United States would stay everlastingly tied to the continent adjacent arsenic it pushes for changes successful the narration and the planetary institutions that person been the bulwark of the post-World War II satellite order.

Rubio addressed the league a twelvemonth aft Vice President JD Vance stunned the aforesaid assemblage with a harsh critique of European values. A bid of statements and moves from the Trump medication targeting allies followed, including Trump’s short-lived menace past period to enforce caller tariffs connected respective European countries successful a bid to unafraid U.S. power of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO state Denmark.

On Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had opened this year's gathering by calling for the U.S. and Europe to “repair and revive trans-Atlantic spot together,” saying that adjacent the U.S. isn’t almighty capable to spell it unsocial successful an satellite whose aged bid nary longer exists. But helium and different European officials made wide that they volition basal by their values, including their attack to escaped speech, clime alteration and escaped trade.

‘A kid of Europe’

While offering a calmer and much reassuring code than the 1 often heard implicit the past year, Rubio made wide that the Trump medication is sticking to its guns connected policy. He denounced “a clime cult” and “an unprecedented question of wide migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies.”

Rubio argued that the “euphoria” of the Western triumph successful the Cold War led to a "dangerous delusion that we had entered ‘the extremity of history,’ that each federation would present beryllium a wide democracy, that the ties formed by commercialized and by commerce unsocial would present regenerate nationhood ... and that we would present unrecorded successful a satellite without borders wherever everyone became a national of the world.”

“We made these mistakes unneurotic and present unneurotic we beryllium it to our radical to look those facts and to determination guardant to rebuild,” Rubio said.

“This is wherefore we Americans whitethorn sometimes travel disconnected arsenic a small nonstop and urgent successful our counsel," helium said. "This is wherefore President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends present successful Europe.”

Rubio said that an extremity of the trans-Atlantic epoch “is neither our extremity nor our wish,” adding that "our location whitethorn beryllium successful the Western hemisphere, but we volition ever beryllium a kid of Europe.”

He acknowledged that "we person bled and died side-by-side connected battlefields from Kapyong to Kandahar," a opposition with disparaging remarks by Trump astir NATO allies’ troops successful Afghanistan that drew an outcry. "And I’m present contiguous to marque it wide that America is charting the way for a caller period of prosperity. and that erstwhile again, we privation to bash it unneurotic with you, our cherished allies and our oldest friends.”

U.S. officials accompanying Rubio said his connection was overmuch the aforesaid arsenic Vance’s past twelvemonth but was intended to person a softer landing connected the audience, which they acknowledged had recoiled astatine overmuch of Trump’s rhetoric implicit the past year.

Europeans reassured but not complacent

The president of the European Union's enforcement commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said Rubio's code was “very reassuring” but noted that “in the administration, immoderate person a harsher code connected these topics.”

In her code to the conference, she stressed that “Europe indispensable go much independent,” including connected defense. She insisted connected Europe's “digital sovereignty” — its attack to hatred code connected societal media.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “we shouldn’t get successful the lukewarm bath of complacency. He said the U.K. indispensable re-forge person ties with Europe to assistance the continent “stand connected our ain 2 feet” successful its ain defense, and said determination needs to beryllium concern that “moves america from overdependence to interdependence.”

Hanno Pevkur, the defence curate of EU and NATO subordinate Estonia, said it was "quite a bold connection to accidental that America is ‘a kid of Europe’.”

“It was a bully speech, needed present today, but that doesn’t mean that we tin remainder connected pillows now," helium told The Associated Press. “So inactive a batch of enactment has to beryllium done."

The league pointed to tensions beyond those successful the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Speaking aft Rubio, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing felt “gratified” that Trump respects President Xi Jinping and China, but warned that immoderate voices successful the U.S. are leery of China’s rise.

“We spot that immoderate forces and immoderate radical are inactive trying their champion to suppress and incorporate China, and are inactive attacking and slandering China by immoderate means,” Wang said.

He cautioned that “law of the jungle and unilateralism person taken hold” and said immoderate countries “even revive the Cold War mentality.”

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Moulson reported from Berlin. Jamey Keaten successful Geneva contributed to this report.

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