Secretary of State Marco Rubio torched European officials on Wednesday who criticized U.S. strikes on narco-terrorist vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific.
“I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is. What they certainly don’t get to determine is how the United States defends its national security,” Rubio said to reporters at a G-7 summit in Canada. “The United States is under attack from organized, criminal narcoterrorists in our hemisphere, and the president is responding in the defense of our country.”
“I do find it interesting that all these countries want us to send and supply, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the United States positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere, where we live, somehow that’s a problem?” Rubio asked. “I would say that the United States and this president has made very clear his job is to protect the United States from threats against the United States, and that is what he is doing in this operation."
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Sec. Marco Rubio DROPS THE MIC on the EU accusing President Trump of violating "international law" by striking narco-terrorists
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 12, 2025
"I find it INTERESTING all these countries want us to send nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe. But when the United States… pic.twitter.com/8LjFCeDc15
U.S. allies, along with several American lawmakers, have expressed concern about the legality of the now 17 strikes on drug trafficking vessels that have resulted in at least 76 deaths. The United Kingdom has reportedly stopped sharing intelligence on drug traffickers from South America to avoid any further involvement in the United States' military strikes.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was more explicit in his criticism, telling reporters at the G-7 summit that the U.S. “military operations in the Caribbean region … violate international law.”
