Marco Rubio tells Europe Trump expects ‘seriousness and reciprocity’

Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, has sought to mend transatlantic ties at the Munich Security Conference, despite also delivering a stark critique of Western nations’ missteps over the past four decades.

His address offered a significant contrast to a blistering attack on America’s European allies made by vice president JD Vance in 2025.

Mr Rubio insisted that the fate of the United States and Europe “will always be intertwined”, stating that Donald Trump “demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe” because “we care deeply about your future and ours”.

However, he also criticised the United Nations and warned that the "rules-based global order" that emerged after the Cold War had been a "dangerous delusion". The conference agenda is dominated by European defence and the future of the transatlantic relationship, particularly as America’s commitment to Nato faces scrutiny.

Amidst these discussions, Mr Rubio notably failed to attend a meeting of Ukraine’s allies, who gathered on Friday as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches.

US officials cited scheduling conflicts, but his absence was perceived by some Europeans as a sign of the White House’s diminishing interest in involving them in efforts to end the conflict.

In his speech, Mr Rubio affirmed: "We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that, ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours. Because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own."

He suggested that the West’s victory in the Cold War had fostered complacency, telling attendees: "The euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion that we had entered, quote, The End of History, that every nation would now be a liberal democracy, that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood, that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest, and that we would now live in a world without borders, where everyone became a citizen of the world."

Mr Rubio acknowledged that "we made these mistakes together, and now together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward to rebuild."

He further claimed that the UN was among the global institutions requiring reform, adding: "We cannot ignore that today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role." Wolfgang Ischinger, the conference chairman, noted a "sigh of relief through this hall" during Mr Rubio’s speech, highlighting its divergence from Mr Vance’s earlier remarks.