Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to face questions about the State Department's budget request for fiscal year 2027 – and the topic of the ongoing conflict with Iran was on everyone's mind. Things got heated when Democrats let loose with their mind-boggling questions about the ongoing negotiations.
In his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio reiterated that the United States remains "the world's sole global superpower," noting we have the world's largest economy, most formidable military ("ever known to man, by the way"), and a strong currency. This all means nothing, he emphasized, if that might isn't used to protect those who built it into a superpower.
SECRETARY RUBIO: We remain the world's sole global superpower, but all of this means very little if that power is not used to protect the people who built it, the people it is meant to protect. pic.twitter.com/6KzasMyKlV
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
Despite the United States' strong position in the world, Rubio explained that we still over-rely on other countries, namely China, to build products that are critical to the United States' continued success, including ships and pharmaceuticals.
SECRETARY RUBIO: "A country that cannot build ships, or produce medicine, or control immigration, or access vital resources cannot defend its people, cannot defend its interests, and cannot defend its way of life." pic.twitter.com/HdiuQ5j5KP
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 2, 2026
As for Iran, Secretary Rubio noted that its navy had been utterly decimated, but the issues of its nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz remain sticking points in the negotiations.
“They did not, at which point the president decided, and I think appropriately, we can’t have a world in which Iran — only Iranian ships get through the Strait,” Rubio said. “And so, if they’re gonna shut down the Strait for everybody, we’re gonna shut down the Strait for them, and we have done that through a very effective blockade.”
Iran's stubborn refusal to resolve those sticking points, said Rubio, is costing the country "hundreds of millions of dollars that they are losing in lost revenue that they’re not generating as a result of that.” He gleefully set his former Senate colleague, Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey, straight on the matter.
.@SecRubio shuts down @SenBooker: "No one's 'begging' for anything here. The Iranians might be begging — because their economy is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 2, 2026
"I don't know where you're getting this perception that Iran is stronger. Iran has no navy left.… pic.twitter.com/XHVerZeo8D
.@SecRubio shuts down @SenBooker: "No one's 'begging' for anything here. The Iranians might be begging — because their economy is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day."
"I don't know where you're getting this perception that Iran is stronger. Iran has no navy left. They've lost a substantial percentage of their defense industrial base... and their economy is far worse today—and I mean far worse today—than it was 6-9 months ago."
Another challenge in the ongoing talks, said Rubio, is that Iran's “internal regime is somewhat fractured in the sense of it takes days to get responses from their system."
READ MORE: Trump's Final Terms Delivered: Iran Will Never Have Nuclear Bomb, Hormuz Open for All Ships
Iran Throws Wrench Into Talks, Pulling Yet Another Hypocritical Move
The fireworks really flew when Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), absurdly accused Rubio of not participating in the negotiations with Iran. And Rubio wasn't having any of it.
.@SecRubio FLAMES Democrat Senator Jacky Rosen for lying about him missing Iran negotiations:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 2, 2026
“You are 100% inaccurate and 100% wrong...where I was is next to the President…you don’t know what you’re talking about, you're just making stuff up." pic.twitter.com/nkIngzUgyU
While the secretary of state was on Capitol Hill, President Trump took to Truth Social to blast "fake news reports" saying Iran had stopped communicating with the United States. Far from it, he said, the two sides had talked as recently as Tuesday.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 2, 2026
The president left Iran with this warning: “It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal. You’ve been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer!”
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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