Priceless: Rubio Wrecks Martha Raddatz in Terrific Exchange About Russia/Ukraine Deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio rounded out his appearances on the Sunday shows with a bonzer appearance on "ABC News This Week" with Martha Raddatz.

As my colleague Susie Moore reported, Rubio appeared on "Meet the Press" on NBC, "Face the Nation" on CBS, and "Sunday Morning Futures" on Fox. On "Meet the Press" with Kristen Welker, Rubio outlined how they had moved right to discussing a peace deal (rather than a ceasefire) as the best way to end the war. While it wasn't our war, Rubio said, President Donald Trump was the only leader in the world who could get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table for real discussions.

So Rubio was in great form when he spoke with Raddatz. Raddatz claimed "critics" would take issue with the "pomp and the circumstance" of the summit with Putin, including the red carpet, saying that "Putin gained just by being on the world stage." Rubio scoffed at that, dropping her and that argument, with some reality.

.@SecRubio nukes ABC for asking about the "red carpet" for Putin: "You're not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin... [@POTUS] is the only leader in the world that could get Putin to a meeting to talk about serious things." pic.twitter.com/daqIzXA9H6
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025

"Putin is already on the world stage," Rubio declared. "He has the world's largest tactical nuclear arsenal...and the second largest strategic nuclear arsenal in the world." He then said the media has been talking about Putin all the time, for the last four or five years. "You're not going to have a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin. That's just common sense, I shouldn't have to say it," Rubio said. He asserted Trump should get credit for his efforts, but "he gets criticism." "He could have just let the war go on. He could have just said, 'This is Biden's war. It started under him...But he's the only leader in the world who could get Putin to the table to talk about serious things."

Rubio explained that they had identified some significant areas of agreement. That was why President Volodymyr Zelensky was coming on Monday, as were other European leaders, to help see if they can get there. Then would come a meeting with Putin and Zelensky.

As my colleague Bob Hoge noted, that's a lot on Trump's plate. You have two volatile people to bring together in Putin and Zelensky. However, they have made significant progress to get this far - otherwise, no one would be coming. So let's hope he can bring it off. The Trump team has a real ability to execute peace deals. Biden didn't even try - he was just content to keep pouring money into Ukraine without end.

"We identified potential areas of agreement, but there remain some big areas of disagreement," Rubio said.

"In order for us to get a peace agreement, Ukraine has to be a part of it... That's why President Zelensky will be traveling to Washington tomorrow," says @SecRubio.

"We identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement." pic.twitter.com/CgGPB4YTS9
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025

That's when Raddatz protested that they didn't know the details. "But Secretary Rubio, we don't know what any of that progress is," she complained.

"And you're not going to," he said, ending her. No, liberal media is not going to be told the sensitive details of a deal that's still being worked out so they can blare it everywhere and do things that might blow it up. Are you kidding me? Good on Rubio for setting her straight. He's proven himself so able in this role.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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