US Secretary of State Marco Rubio went back to ancient Athens to sell a very current message: “America First.” Speaking from the Pnyx, with the Parthenon behind him, Rubio urged Western countries to reclaim Greek ideals of “heroism, honor, and duty,” arguing they justify putting national interests ahead of global concerns, per Reuters. Rubio said loyalty to one’s own nation is neither “selfish” nor “wrong” and cast the coming decade as a decisive moment for the West’s global standing.
“We will either choose to act now, or lose the choice to act at all,” he said, per the AP. “Under President Trump, the United States has made its choice. We choose the unapologetic pursuit of national power.” The speech echoed Vice President JD Vance’s controversial 2025 remarks in Munich and Trump’s National Security Strategy, both of which warned that Europe risks decline amid migration and weakened sovereignty, per Reuters. Rubio wraps a tour of NATO allies on Thursday in Lisbon, Portugal. The Washington Post, meanwhile, thinks that the secretary of state’s pontifications suggest “grander ambitions,” with a speech “befitting a politician trying to inherit the MAGA movement.”