{"id":90622,"date":"2025-08-17T23:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90622\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T23:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:57:11","slug":"rubio-desperately-tries-to-spin-trumps-putin-flop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90622\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio Desperately Tries to Spin Trump’s Putin Flop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSecretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> scrambled to justify the administration\u2019s lack of progress toward a Ukraine<\/a>\u2013Russia<\/a> ceasefire during Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> in Alaska. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a round of interviews on four Sunday news programs, Rubio, who used to be strongly anti-Putin, struggled to defend the administration\u2019s position, despite Trump\u2019s boasting that he made \u201cBIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA\u201d in a Truth Social post that morning. <\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s a big change of tune to what Trump said before he met with Putin: \u201cI want to see a ceasefire rapidly. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be today, but I\u2019m not going to be happy if it\u2019s not today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis Week host Martha Raddatz pointed out this inconvenient fact, asking Rubio if Trump changed his mind. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe fighting hasn\u2019t stopped. The killing hasn\u2019t stopped. And there is no ceasefire. What changed President Trump\u2019s mind?\u201d Raddatz asked.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think his mind has changed at all,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cI think, ultimately, if this whole effort doesn\u2019t work out then, yes, there is going to have to be additional consequences to Russia, but we\u2019re trying to avoid that by reaching a peace agreement. And that\u2019s not going to be easy. It\u2019s going to take a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRubio continued to hedge: \u201cSo, we\u2019re still a long ways off. I mean, we\u2019re not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We\u2019re not at the edge of one, but I do think progress was made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Rubio refused to elaborate on what that progress was, nor would he name any concessions that Putin agreed to.<\/p>\n

\n\tRaddatz pressed Rubio. \u201cThe president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if they didn\u2019t agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn\u2019t agree to a ceasefire. Where are the consequences?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat\u2019s not the aim,\u201d Rubio responded.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe president said that was the aim,\u201d Raddatz said.<\/p>\n

RADDATZ: The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if they didn’t agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn’t agree to a ceasefire. Where are the consequences?RUBIO: That’s not the aimRADDATZ: The president said that was the aim<\/p>\n

\u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)<\/a> 2025-08-17T14:11:44.869Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe public meeting between Putin and Trump went so poorly, even Fox News described it as a flop where Putin clearly dominated the conversation: \u201cThe way that it felt in the room was not good. It did not seem like things went well. And it seemed like Putin came in and steamrolled, got right into what he wanted to say and got his photo next to the president and then left,\u201d the network\u2019s senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Fox News\u2019 Sunday Morning Futures, Rubio said that while \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of work that remains,\u201d the U.S.-Russia conversation zeroed in on issues of borders, long-term security for Kyv, and Ukraine\u2019s military alliances. <\/p>\n

\n\tSteve Witkoff, Trump\u2019s special envoy to Russia, disclosed more details, saying on CNN that the U.S. allegedly won \u201cthe concession that the United States could offer Article Five-like protection\u201d to Ukraine, referring to the kind of protection NATO countries provide one another. Putin has vehemently opposed Ukraine becoming a NATO member.<\/p>\n

\n\tRubio\u2019s role in the administration has led him to compromise his views on Putin\u2019s aggression toward Ukraine. On Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker rolled out a clip of Rubio from 2022 arguing that \u201cyou can\u2019t cut deals with guys\u201d like Putin.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a senator, Rubio called<\/a> Putin several things \u2014\u00a0\u201cbloodthirsty,\u201d \u201ca butcher,\u201d and \u201ca monster.\u201d He also pressed the Biden administration to continue supporting Ukrainians \u201cas long as they are willing to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tDemocrats have been staunchly critical of the administration\u2019s handling of Russia\u2019s aggression toward Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States,\u201d Sen. Chris Murphy said Sunday on Meet the Press. \u201cIt was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[Putin] didn\u2019t have to give up anything. Nothing, right?\u201d Murphy continued. \u201cPresident Trump said he wanted a ceasefire. It appears the ceasefire wasn\u2019t even seriously discussed. And, then\u2026 there\u2019s no consequences. Trump said, \u2018If I don\u2019t get a ceasefire, Putin\u2019s going to pay a price.\u2019 And then he walked out of that meeting saying, \u2018I didn\u2019t get a ceasefire. I didn\u2019t get a peace deal. And I\u2019m not even considering sanctions.\u2019 You heard Secretary Rubio downplay sanctions. And, so, Putin walks away with his photo op, with zero commitments made and zero consequences. What a great day for Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMurphy also unleashed on congressional Republicans for doing Trump\u2019s bidding. \u201cIn the Congress, the Republicans essentially work for President Trump,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if President Trump tells them that his number one priority is to keep Vladimir Putin happy, not to actually levy the kind of sanctions that would create a realistic negotiating table, Republicans are gonna listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy: “In the Congress, the Republicans essentially work for President Trump. And if President Trump tells them that his number one priority is to keep Vladimir Putin happy, not to actually levy the kind of sanctions that would create a realistic negotiating table, Republicans are gonna listen.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)<\/a> 2025-08-17T14:35:13.140Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tRep. Jason Crow also pointed out what a failure the meeting was, calling it a \u201chistoric embarrassment\u201d for the U.S. <\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat [Putin] cares about is three things: economic pressure in the form of sanctions, being a pariah state, and military defeat\u2026 This admin continues to be unwilling to do anything to assert pressure in any of those three areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tUkraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Washington on Monday where he will meet with Trump. The last time Zelensky visited D.C., both Trump and Vance publicly berated him in the Oval Office, with Vance bashing him for not saying \u201cthank you\u201d enough to the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Secretary of State Marco Rubio scrambled to justify the administration\u2019s lack of progress toward a Ukraine\u2013Russia ceasefire during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,12,643,3,1206,1208,21,19,22,20,25,24,6508],"class_list":{"0":"post-90622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-marco-rubio","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-russia","13":"tag-ukraine","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa","20":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}