Secretary of State Marco Rubio handled the fake news one by one on Sunday as he made the rounds on the Sunday shows.
The fake news hosts are attacking President Trump for his meeting with Putin in Alaska.
After torching CBS’s Margaret Brennan and ABC’s Martha Raddatz, Rubio took NBC’s Kristen Welker to task after she tried to get him in a gotcha question on Putin.
Kristen Welker: Mr. Secretary, a couple more questions, and we’re almost out of time. NBC News is reporting this morning that NATO-like security guarantees for Ukraine were discussed as a part of this agreement. Can you tell us what role would the United States play in such a security agreement?
RUBIO: Well, there will have to be some security guarantees for Ukraine, right? I mean, it’s one of their fundamental demands is that, if this war were to end, they have to make sure this never happens again. They don’t want to get reinvaded. They don’t want to wait three or four years from now and find another – so – a war on their hands. So there’s going to have to be some security guarantees as part of it. How that’s structured, how that’s built, what our role will be, that will be the kinds of things we’ll have to work through.
But again, that is going to be a key element of this deal, and it is something that, in order for there to be a peace, the Russian side is going to have to accept that Ukraine is a sovereign country that has a right to defend itself and has a right to enter into alliances with other countries to defend itself. How that’s constructed, what we call it, how it’s built, what guarantees are built in there that are enforceable, that’s what we’ll be talking about over the next few days with our partners who are coming in from overseas tomorrow for a series of meetings, and in the days to come.
Welker: Yeah.
RUBIO: We had a long phone call about this yesterday with several of the national security advisors from various countries in Europe.
Welker played a 2022 clip of Rubio calling Putin a liar and thought she got him.
Welker: Mr. Secretary, I want to play something you said about President Putin. This was right after the invasion in March of 2022. Take a look.
“This guy lies, habitually lies. He’s never kept a deal they’ve ever signed, and he’s lied all – he lies all the time. And I don’t know why, but he plays us like a – like a violin in the West, because the West wants to believe that you can cut a deal with everybody. You can’t cut a deal with guys like this. He’s a professional, experienced liar,” Rubio said in the flashback clip.
Welker: Mr. Secretary, given that, what makes you think that if you are able to reach a deal with President Putin, that he would stick to it based on, as you just said, he’s a liar?
RUBIO: Well, that’s the point. That’s why the deal has to have enforceable mechanisms in it. That’s why the deal has to have things like security guarantees. That’s the point I was making a few minutes ago when you were asking me about looking someone in the eye. What’s important here is actions, not words, not a paper document. Those are all important. Those are elements of a deal, but they have to be enforceable. They have to be verifiable; they have to be enduring. There’s no point here in signing a deal that’s going to be violated in three or four months. There’s no point in doing that. It actually would make things worse.
So that’s why this is such a difficult thing. Not only do you need a deal – you need a deal that’s verifiable, that’s enforceable, and that’s enduring. If you don’t achieve that, then I think you could have a ceasefire for a few months, a few weeks, and then the war will start again and more people will die. That’s not the outcome we’re interested in. That’s not the outcome anybody wants. So that’s why this is so difficult.
WATCH:
MARCO RUBIO SMACKDOWN: NBC’s Kristen Welker attempts a “gotcha” by playing a clip from 2022 of Rubio saying Putin is a “professional liar” who can’t make any deals. pic.twitter.com/1nxsDq4Znn
But her attempt failed – miserably.
WELKER: “Given that – what makes you think if…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 17, 2025