The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, asserted that President Donald Trump has faced national security threats that his predecessors failed to address and defended his decisions regarding Iran, even when they may be unpopular.
The statements appear in a video shared this Sunday by the State Department, in which Rubio justified the actions of the American president regarding the Iranian nuclear program and argued that presidents must make tough decisions when they believe it is necessary to protect the country.
"A few days ago, the president of the United States identified a very real threat to this country, one that has existed for a long time, and confronted it," said Rubio, who insisted that acting on security challenges does not always ensure popular support.
The official recalled that for years there was a consensus among Republicans and Democrats regarding the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran, although he expressed doubts about whether that political agreement is still in place.
"I believe we can all agree that there was a bipartisan consensus, I hope there still is, maybe not anymore, but there used to be, that a nuclear Iran would be completely unacceptable and dangerous for the United States, not just for Israel, not just for the Middle East, but for the entire world," he stated.
Rubio believed that Trump chose to take action in a situation that other U.S. presidents had been unable to resolve.
"I believe that the president has taken on something that other presidents have not managed to accomplish. Sometimes, when you do the right thing, you don't know if it's popular or not, but it's still the right thing. Presidents are elected to tackle the tough issues, sometimes challenging, but necessary," he declared.
In another segment shared by the State Department, Rubio responded to a question regarding U.S. policy towards potential threats in the region and asserted that Washington will act to defend its military and commercial navigation.
“The United States acts defensively. If there is a threat against our forces in the region, we will act against it,” he stated.
The Secretary of State added that his country has been protecting maritime transport for some time and that any response will depend on the existence of threats against its forces or against the vessels navigating through the area.
"If there is a clear and present threat against navigation or against our forces in the region, we have the right to defend ourselves. It all depends on the level of threat and whether they are coming against us or could do so," he explained.
Rubio's words come after he delivered another speech in defense of Trump at a conservative gathering in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Friday.
In that intervention, he also justified the president's policy towards Iran and argued that it would have been easier to leave the problem to a future administration.
"He was chosen to tackle the difficult issues," he stated at the time, before noting that other presidents had chosen to ignore the Iranian matter. Rubio also asserted that he felt honored to be part of the Trump administration and defended the president's decisions as measures aimed at protecting Americans.
Rubio's praises for Trump are not a new rhetoric. In May, Rubio had already introduced Trump as the first U.S. president to take concrete steps to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"All U.S. presidents have said that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. This is the first U.S. president who is actually trying to do something concrete about it," he stated on that occasion.
In March, during the Shield of the Americas summit held in Miami, Rubio also praised Trump's policy toward Latin America and emphasized that he had made the region a priority of his administration.
"There are many presidents who have said they would do it, but he has done it," he stated then in Spanish before the Latin American leaders gathered at the meeting.
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