Marco Rubio Slams EU Over Drug Boat Strike Criticism

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a blistering rebuke Wednesday to European critics of America’s military crackdown on drug trafficking operations in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, making it clear that U.S. national security will not be dictated by foreign bureaucrats.

Speaking from a G-7 summit, Rubio took direct aim at European officials particularly from France and the UK who have claimed that the Biden-Trump administration’s maritime drug interdiction strikes violate so-called “international law.”

“I don’t think the European Union gets to determine what international law is,” Rubio declared. “And what they certainly don’t get to determine is how the United States defends its national security.”

The comments come amid an intensifying U.S. operation aimed at dismantling narcoterrorist smuggling routes, particularly those connected to Venezuelan cartels, using submarines, fast boats, and shadow networks to traffic fentanyl and cocaine into the United States.

• To date, the U.S. has reportedly destroyed more than 20 cartel-operated vessels, many of them self-propelled semi-submersibles used to smuggle drugs undetected.

• The military has deployed aircraft carriers and warships off the coast of Venezuela and into the eastern Pacific as part of this operation.

• Rubio emphasized that these actions are directly aimed at stopping a deadly flow of drugs responsible for over 100,000 overdose deaths per year in the U.S.

While the French foreign minister and others whined about “escalation” and “destabilizing” the region, Rubio wasn’t having it.

“These same countries want us to supply nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe,” Rubio said. “But when we deploy carriers to our own hemisphere where we live suddenly that’s a problem?”

The UK has reportedly halted intelligence-sharing with U.S. forces on South American drug trafficking out of concern they’ll be seen as complicit in the strikes. France has gone even further, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot calling the strikes a violation of international law a claim Rubio flatly rejected as hypocritical and dangerous.

“The president’s job is to protect the United States from threats against the United States,” Rubio said. “That is exactly what he is doing.”

The United States is under direct threat from well-organized, heavily armed narcoterrorist cartels exploiting failed states like Venezuela to poison American communities. While Europe lectures Washington from the sidelines, American families are burying sons and daughters lost to fentanyl.

Rubio’s unapologetic stance signals that under this administration, the era of taking foreign advice over American safety is over. The United States isn’t interested in coddling drug lords, appeasing foreign critics, or asking for permission to defend its own citizens.

This is what America First foreign policy looks like: bold, unapologetic, and focused on real-world results.

Share this article or subscribe to our newsletter for more stories that highlight American strength and leadership on the world stage.