‘When we had a need’: Marco Rubio breaks down after Europe rejects him, and his ego wasn’t ready to face the reality

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stopped on his way to his plane to talk to the press about a wide-ranging assessment of what has been plaguing the Donald Trump administration and what he thinks needs quick fixes. One issue in particular that was so pertinent to him that Rubio even posted about it on his official account was NATO’s reluctance to join the U.S. war efforts in Iran.

Trump’s foreign policy has been in shambles, and that was even before the war in Iran. He started out his second term by issuing tariffs on America’s main allies — despite that ending up being unlawful because he did not get Congressional approval. However, things only got worse from there.

Trump took every chance he could get at summits and even used the Oval Office to call NATO allies out for not doing enough for collective defense. Terms like “paper tigers” even started being thrown around. The message was clear to Europe, and they began thinking more independently rather than as part of a unit where their contributions were being undermined.

On Feb. 28, the Trump administration and Israel entered a war with Iran that they thought would be easy — that ended up not being the case. Now oil shipments to Europe are being embargoed, with exceptions such as Spain because they directly called out Trump. So as things stand, most NATO allies actually have more reason not to intervene in Iran than they do to join the U.S. and Israel.

There was also a recent development with the U.S. and NATO that further weakened the alliance. On Mar. 26, amid the pressures of the Iran war, the Trump administration decided to divert funds from the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) to address the reported strain on munitions in the Middle East.

The PURL was originally a NATO-coordinated mechanism where European allies provided $750 million to the U.S. so they could collectively purchase American-made weaponry to assist Ukraine in its war against the Russian invasion. The Pentagon has now decided it will use that money to replenish its own arsenal first.

These are alliances that predate Trump’s ascent into office, but the lasting effects of the lack of trust will certainly follow the U.S. long after his time in office ends. One of Trump’s heir apparents within MAGA just so happens to be Rubio, and he wants it to be very clear that he’s aligned with Trump. That’s why he posted the message on X, saying, “The U.S. is constantly asked to help in wars, and we have. But when we had a need, it didn’t get positive responses from NATO. A couple of leaders said that Iran was not Europe’s war. Well, Ukraine isn’t our war, yet we’ve contributed more to that fight than anyone.”

SECRETARY RUBIO: The U.S. is constantly asked to help in wars and we have. But when we had a need, it didn’t get positive responses from NATO. A couple leaders said that Iran was not Europe’s war. Well, Ukraine isn’t our war, yet we’ve contributed more to that fight than anyone. pic.twitter.com/AEDMLBbLFQ

— Department of State (@StateDept) March 26, 2026

MAGA 2.0 was always going to change the landscape in America, but not even the most ardent supporters of the movement thought it would lead to this level of isolationism. China and Russia are considered adversaries. Africa is dismissed as “third world” war zones. The Gulf is dealing with incessant Iranian missile launches arguably caused by Trump. Immediate neighbors are being tariffed. And now NATO isn’t even unified? For a country that once led alliances, the U.S. now finds itself with fewer allies than it has problems.