U.S. Department of State

Secretary of State Marco Rubio On Fox News Channel’s My View with Lara Trump
08/01/2026


Secretary of State Marco Rubio On Fox News Channel’s My View with Lara Trump
08/01/2026 11:22 PM EDT



Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

Washington, D.C.

The White House


Secretary of State Marco Rubio On Fox News Channel’s My View with Lara Trump


Interview

July 28, 2026



QUESTION: Secretary, great to have you back. Thank you so much.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Glad to be back. It’s been a while.

QUESTION: Yeah. There’s so much to talk about, but I want to start with Cuba.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.

QUESTION: This has been of particular interest to the State Department right now. You guys released a 100-page report on Cuba, calling it, “The Capital of 21st Century Communism.” And this report talks about the fact that Cuba’s goal essentially is to erase the United States from the Earth. It also details a Cuban spy network that’s been undermining American interests. How did we get to a place where Cuba has become so much of a threat – it feels like again – to the United States?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think for those who have followed the issue of Cuba, this is not unfamiliar to us. But to the average American, you see Cuba, a small country 90 miles off our shores, nine and a half million people population. But people forget that when it comes to things like espionage and influence operations, they actually are an influence and espionage superpower. If you look at the history of espionage in the United States, Cuba is the only country that consistently has implanted and embedded spies in our system without even paying them.

We had an ambassador, a U.S. ambassador, who ended up being a Cuban spy and was recently convicted. We’ve had them penetrate the highest levels of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Ana Belén Montes was one of the single biggest intelligence failures on the part of the United States and one of the biggest penetrations we ever had in our system.

So – and then on the influence front, if you look all throughout Latin America, every communist left-wing insurgency that’s destabilized governments across the region, every single one of them over the last 40, 50 years has found its support, its help, in many cases its birth, from a Cuban influence operation. So, it was an important report just to highlight the role they play in our country, a very negative role.

QUESTION: The report also links Cuban influence to the rise in Antifa, the riots that we saw in 2020, as well as the surge of radical activism that we’ve seen all over these college campuses. To the average person, those things, I think, feel generally organic, but it turns out there are a lot of different powers – Cuba being one of them – that are influencing all of these things day to day.

SECRETARY RUBIO: It’s the same network of protesters around the country. They were the same people you saw on the streets burning things in 2020. They then flip it around and they become the pro-Hamas protesters, then they flip it around and within 48 hours of Maduro’s arrest have preprinted signs outside the courthouse demanding his release. And then they’re out there doing the ICE stuff, attacking ICE agents.

There’s nothing organic about it. It is funded, it is organized, and Cuba is a part of that network, and in some cases a critical part of that network. And it’s a network they will weaponize against us, and they talk about it openly, about how they will use that network to pressure American policymakers – not just here in the United States, like Code Pink, but all over the world.

QUESTION: Critics of this report, of course, are saying, oh, well, these are scare tactics to potentially justify some U.S. military action against Cuba. It sounds like this is something we should take seriously, and this report sounds very real.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Everything in there is factual. And frankly, I don’t think they can dispute it. People can argue that we shouldn’t do with it, and I know there are plenty of people in American academia – and frankly in American press – that sympathize with the Cuban regime and have for a very long time. Part of it is motivated by their anti-Americanism, and part of it is motivated by ideological affinity. There are plenty – there are enough people in key nodes of our society, including professors, but frankly, in the past we’ve seen people within our own government, that sympathize with the Cuban regime. It’s the way they get spies without paying them. But it doesn’t mean we can ignore this threat.

Put aside for a moment my history, the fact that I’m Cuban American, the fact that I grew up in Miami. This is 90 miles from our shores. A failed state 90 miles from our shores that happens to be aligned with adversaries to the United States is a national security threat to our country.

QUESTION: I want to move quickly to Venezuela. The interim government and opposition leaders there are taking steps towards a possible future with democratic elections. What role is the United States currently playing, and what can you tell us about Venezuela?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the first thing about Venezuela is I know we’re not in the era of patience and persistence, but these things take time. You’re dealing with a system that’s been in place for over a quarter-century, so those are deep roots that you have to deal with. It’s also a country that faces a lot of problems, I mean a lot of economic problems, not to mention now they’ve had an earthquake.

So, that’s why we’ve always talked about phase one, where our priority was stabilization. We didn’t want the country devolving into civil war, mass migration, civil unrest, and so forth. Step two is a recovery phase, which I think we’re into. Obviously, the earthquake adds complexity to it. You’ve got to have a functioning economy. You need to have laws and rules and regulations in place so that investors from America and around the world can go in and safely invest and create prosperity.

Ultimately, you have to have transition. At some point in time there has to be legitimate elections at every level so that people know that the government that’s there is a legitimate government chosen by their people. Step one towards that is a national reconciliation. This is a people that have been divided politically for a very long time against each other, and you’re going to have to look at models like what you saw happen in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. I think the role the U.S. Government can continue to play is as a facilitator of all of this.

QUESTION: You’ve been outspoken for many years about the threat from China. President Xi, of course, is going to come visit here in Washington, D.C., in September. You’ve had to sit across the table, though, from China’s foreign minister. You’ve had to negotiate and talk on America’s behalf. How have you found, in this role, negotiating with Beijing?

SECRETARY RUBIO: On the one hand, all the things that China wants to become the most powerful country in the world, and they want to do so at our expense. Obviously, we are Americans; we’re not going to allow that to happen.

At the same time, they are the two most powerful economies in the world, probably the two most powerful militaries in the world, though ours is further along than theirs, but nonetheless. And I think it’s important for two big countries like this, the two most powerful countries in the world, have to have a relationship, have to have the ability to speak to one another and try to deconflict where possible, because it could lead to some really bad things. The foundation of that is the relationship that President Trump has with President Xi, which is a relationship of mutual respect and they get along. And that really is important that our two presidents can speak to one another, and it’s okay. I think it’s almost irresponsible, by the way, to not have direct communications with the Chinese.

We want stability in our relationship. Both sides, I think, recognize that there are areas where we’re not going to agree, and including areas where we’re going to have to compete. Now, there are areas we can work together on. That’s phenomenal, fantastic for the world. But I think there’s going to be a lot of areas of friction and competition, and we have to manage that at the same time as we have to have a relationship with them, but we always have to look out for what’s best for America.

QUESTION: Well, it seems like China has been on their best behavior knowing that President Trump is in the White House, but a lot of people believe that they may just be biding their time in terms of possibly taking over Taiwan. What do you say to that?

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I can’t speak 20 or 30 years from now. I can say that our position is we support – we don’t support any change to the current status quo that exists there right now. We would be against any sort of compelled or coerced change in status. That point was made very clear in our meetings with the Chinese. Obviously, they have a very different point of view; it’s a very sensitive issue for them.

So, again, it’s part of that delicate balancing act. Because look, any conflict between the U.S. and China, be it economic or be it military, God forbid, would be catastrophic for both countries and for the world. So, we have to manage that, but we can’t walk away or forfeit our national interests. So, this is the hard work of foreign policy, and it requires every administration to sort of balance these two competing tugs against us.

QUESTION: Well, we hear a lot about tensions with China. We hear a lot about tensions with Russia, with Iran daily. I think Americans probably at some point get very overwhelmed because, unfortunately, the good stuff doesn’t make it out there often enough. What would you say, though, about the stability of the world right now given you’re in your position and the President is who he is?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think the world has always been complicated and tricky. I think the difference now is if something happens halfway around the world in a place you’ve never heard about before, and it’s really dramatic, you’re going to hear about it almost instantaneously.

I think the world is also going through a period of rapid transformation. I mean, there is clearly a geopolitical reordering that is occurring, and I’ve talked about this repeatedly. We are – after the end of the Cold War, everybody thought the whole world was just going to become free-enterprise democracies and everyone would get along and nation-states would no longer matter. And unfortunately, we made decisions in our foreign policy on that ridiculous basis that actually caused us to hurt our country. We started saying things like we don’t care where things are made, let it be made in another country as long as it’s cheaper prices for America. And it ended up deindustrializing our country and costing us millions of jobs.

So, what you see President Trump doing now is rebalancing those things on the economy using tariffs, on geopolitics using our presence in the world, especially in the Western Hemisphere, our own area neighborhood that we live in.

And then of course there are legacy threats like the Iranian threat of a nuclear program, which can never happen. The President’s been very clear about that. So, you have all the old threats plus the emerging new ones, and they’re all happening at the same time, and they’re happening faster than they ever have before. And it’ll be the work of this administration, but it’ll be the work of future administrations. Some of these things are going to take decades to work themselves out.

(Break.)

QUESTION: And we’re back with more of our exclusive sit-down with Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the ongoing conflict in Iran remains top of mind for the American people.

SECRETARY RUBIO: I don’t think the Iranian regime has ever faced a president like President Trump, which is someone that actually takes action. They got used to for 20 or 30 years not just the U.S. but the broader world allowing them to get away with things like lying, breaking deals, tricking people into agreements, and so forth.

In this particular case, it was pretty straightforward. Iran wants a nuclear weapon, and they were building a conventional missile shield that they were going to hide behind. In essence, they wanted to be in a position a year and a half from now to be able to say: We have so many drones and so many missiles, you can’t possibly defend against them.

That’s the place they wanted to get to. President Trump said we’re not – I’m not going to let you get to that place, and he went after – wiped out their navy, wiped out their air force, wiped out their missile defenses, wiped out their launchers, wiped out their factories that make all of these things, and severely degraded their defense capabilities.

Now, they still have missiles and they still have drones and they can still do damage, but they no longer have that shield, that conventional shield that they could hide behind, and that’s changed the whole dynamic. It’s the only reason why they are now willing and in some cases seem eager to do a deal on denuclearization, to do a deal on the straits. Because we’re now approaching them from a position of strength, not from a position of weakness, which is what they perceived from previous administrations and, frankly, from the world writ large.

QUESTION: The regime change has never been the goal, though. As you say, it has been denuclearization. Can you have one without the other, though?

SECRETARY RUBIO: I think what does – the regime has to change. You might not have a regime change, but the regime has to change. The Iranian regime traditionally has been expeditionary. In essence, their view is they don’t want to just govern Iran; they want to govern the region. They view them – they want to export the revolution. That does have to change, and the only way you’re going to change that is if you make the price of it too high for them to be able to pay.

QUESTION: The fact that so many of these Gulf Arab nations have all kind of aligned against Iran, that must be important.

SECRETARY RUBIO: I would say two things about the Middle East and the Gulf – I mean, they’ve always understood who Iran was and the threat they posed. That threat has now become reality. They have now seen Iranian drones and Iranian missiles launched into their cities and against their energy infrastructure.

The other thing that’s changed is I think you’re going to see more and more energy diversifying outside of the Straits of Hormuz, because from a geographic standpoint Iran will always be on the straits, whether they’re governed by this regime or a future government. But that’s going to be two permanent features that are going to emerge from this: You’re going to see the realignment in how energy flows, less reliant on the Straits of Hormuz; and you’re going to countries in the region that are no longer – now understand that Iran is no longer a theoretical threat. As long as this clerical regime remains in place, they are a real threat and a direct threat to their – not just to their economic interests but their security interests.

QUESTION: Well, President Trump says he is going to confront Valdimir Putin regarding reports that Russia helped Iran target U.S. bases. How much does that relationship concern you?

SECRETARY RUBIO: With Russia?

QUESTION: Between Russia and Iran.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Look, unfortunately, I think you’ll find in the world that there are countries, or at least companies within countries, that work with adversaries of ours. And when we identify it, we raise it, and in some cases very successfully.

Nothing we have wanted to do in the Middle East – none of the actions we’ve taken, none of our successes – have in any way been impeded by anything that any other country in the world did against us. There are things that might be irritants, there are things that might be concerning, but there is nothing any other country is doing that in any way is standing in the way of us achieving the things we want to achieve or the objectives we want.

QUESTION: Just to finish with the situation in Russia and Ukraine, is there anything at this point that the U.S. can realistically do to help bring talks together, bring this to an end?

SECRETARY RUBIO: The President has made very clear if United States can play a role in bringing about an end to that war, we’re going to continue to explore it. We spent a lot of time on it in the first year. There came a point where it got to, like, stalemate, but we always stood willing and ready to play a constructive role.

We’re the only country in the world, and President Trump’s the only leader in the world, that can bring the Russian side and the Ukrainian side to begin to talk about how you end it. The reality is that dynamics have changed just a little bit in that conflict over the last few months. The Ukrainians now are able to conduct long-range strikes deep into Russia, bringing the war toward – to the Russian people.

What we are willing to explore is whether that new dynamic has in any way opened the door to some negotiated settlement. I know there’s going to be – you’re going to see some efforts over the next few weeks to see if we can’t restart talks between the two sides and bring this war to an end. But we also understand that both sides have some pretty strong red lines; and until we can bring those red lines a little closer together, we’re not going to be there yet. But we’re ready to go, and the President’s told his team if you see an opportunity to be a force that brings about some momentum behind peace talks, let’s do it. So, he always prefers diplomacy over war and peace over combat.

QUESTION: Americans have seen so many versions of you, I think. We know Senator Rubio, we know candidate Rubio, now Secretary Rubio. Have you changed throughout the course of all of these different kind of phases of your life? And how do you think the American people’s perception of you has changed? Because you are memes everywhere – I think everybody loves to see all the different sides of you.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, well, the meme thing, it was interesting because when it first came out, I hated that picture. (Laughter.) Because what happened is in that couch, if you don’t have a pillow behind your back, you kind of sink. So, I looked at the picture; I said, oh, this is terrible, I looked like whatever. And then it turned into this other thing. And it was fine, and it’s funny. I don’t really follow it very closely, but people have shown me pictures out there. We have a good friend here that works at the White House, Dan Scavino, made a nice board for me. (Laughter.) And even since he made that board, we had to update it, so – of all the different pictures. So that stuff is funny.

You asked me if you’ve changed. I think everybody – you go through life, right? And as you go through life you learn new things, you see things you hadn’t seen before, you hear things you haven’t heard before. Certainly, I am a different person at 55 than I was at 25 or even 35 because I have 20 and 30 years of experience in between – in life and in work – that inform that.

I think at your core you always want to remain the same person, though, right? And that is what are your priorities in life and what are the values that sort of drive you to do what you do, and I hope that hasn’t changed. And by the way, the world changes too. There are things that are true today that weren’t true 10 years ago. So, I think that – that’s true for all of us, not just me.

QUESTION: I feel like you’ve been busier than ever. You’ve been traveling all over the place. But you’re doing all of that while being a husband, while being a father. Maybe talk about how that is, because I know for every kind of working parent out there, working spouse, it’s hard to take time, but I am sure your family keeps you very active.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, it is, and I’m in an interesting season in life. For most of my time in public service, I had very young children or children that were still growing up. Now all four of my children are adults. My youngest graduated high school this year. I have a 26-year-old, a 24-year-old, a 21-year-old, and an 18-year-old. So, they have lives. They don’t just have – when you’re 15 or 16, you have opinions. When you get to 20, 24, 26, you have lives and you have stuff going on. I still look back at the time that they were young and wish I could have one more day with them when they were little, but you also appreciate the moment you live in.

And then as far as being a husband, I think what’s happened is, because your kids are a little older and they have more time doing their own things, whether their school or their career, you spend more time with your – you almost, like, get back to where you were when you first started dating in some ways. So, you get to spend more time with my wife and sort of rediscover. So, it’s the second phase of that relationship, I guess, after all these years.

So it’s an interesting season in life that I think we’re – mixing with what we’re doing here now – and find it pretty fulfilling and pretty happy.

QUESTION: Well, when you go home, I’m curious: What is the first thing you do when Marco Rubio gets home? Do you sleep? What happens?

SECRETARY RUBIO: (Laughter.) No, not when I get home. I don’t go right to sleep. Of course not. Usually, I mean, if you can – you really can’t in this job, and you certainly can’t working for this administration and this President, who never stops working, but I think it is good to try to disconnect for some period of time from your job or from your work. It could be watching a sporting event, it could be watching a movie, just anything that allows you to sort of disconnect and play the reset button.

It’s harder – it was a lot easier to do that when you’re a senator. It’s much harder when you’re in this role and in this job, because the world isn’t going to stop and wait for you. Like, you may want – you may have made a plan tonight to watch a movie, but in the middle of that movie something blows up somewhere in the world, and you’ve got to know about it and you may have to do something about it. So, it’s harder, but it’s not forever, and it’s fulfilling to be in that role.

QUESTION: So, if you could get a full week off without having anyone access you, what would you do?

SECRETARY RUBIO: If I had a full week off, I’d be wondering what was going on. I’m being honest, and maybe that’ll change when I’m out of this job. But if I could – like, if I could make the world stop for a minute and have nothing going on, I’d love to –

QUESTION: Yeah, (inaudible).

SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, my wife’s going to hate this answer, but I’d love to sit down and, like, watch, like, every college football game starting at noon Eastern until one – when the West Coast games end at 2:00 a.m. our time Eastern. I’d love to be able to do that at least one weekend. I doubt I’ll be able to do that anytime soon.

QUESTION: Okay. Final question: Is this going to be the Miami Dolphins season? What do we think?

SECRETARY RUBIO: No.

QUESTION: (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RUBIO: No, they’re in massive rebuilding mode, but I think the needle is pointing in the right direction, but they need a couple years to rebuild that roster.

QUESTION: Okay. We’re always looking to future seasons.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, that’s right.

QUESTION: Well, Secretary Marco Rubio, you are great.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thanks for all you do for our country, and thank you so much for your time.

SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you.





Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Miliband
08/05/2026
Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Miliband
08/05/2026 12:30 PM EDT



Office of the Spokesperson


Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Miliband


Readout





August 5, 2026



The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tommy Pigott:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. The two discussed the importance of Europe taking on a greater role in its own security. They reiterated their shared commitment to safe transit in the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring Iran never develops or obtains a nuclear weapon.





Press Briefing with Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Michael C. Gonzales
08/07/2026
Press Briefing with Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Michael C. Gonzales
08/07/2026 02:30 PM EDT



Michael C. Gonzales, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Miami Hub

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) My name is Natalia Molano. I am the director of the Media Hub of the Department of State of the U.S. in Miami, Florida. I welcome you, and thank you to the – thanks – the international journalists who are connected to this virtual press conference.

I have the privilege of introducing and welcome the Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Mr. Michael Gonzales, who will speak about the recent announcement by the U.S. Government regarding reward for information that would lead to the arrest or conviction of – from – in any country of eight leaders and collaborators of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cártel.

This press conference is an attribution press conference, on the record. Transcription will be published in the website, the translation website of the Department of State.

(In English) This press briefing will be conducted in English and Spanish with simultaneous interpretation available to both languages. Please find the globe icon on the lower area of your screen to select your language.

(Via interpreter) This press conference will be in both English and Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation available in both languages. You can select your language, pressing the globe icon that you can find at the lower area of your screen.

We will start a press conference with the opening statement by the Deputy Assistant Secretary Michael Gonzales in Spanish, and then we will move to the questions and – the questions phase for the press, where the deputy assistant secretary will answer in English.

Mr. Deputy Assistant Secretary Gonzales, please, you can start with your opening remarks.

DAS GONZALES: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Natalia. I am happy to be here today. As President Trump said, it is time for America to wage war on the cartels. Well, CJNG, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, we are coming for you. In a historic action supporting President Trump’s directive to eliminate narco-terrorist cartels, the Department of State announced more than $100 million in reward money for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of eight leaders and other associates and accomplices of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, CJNG.

This includes a $25 million reward offered for Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, also known as Pelón, the leader of the CJNG, who rose to power following the death of the cartel’s former boss, El Mencho. Pelón and his vicious organization are directly responsible for poisoning American communities with illicit fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, as well as fueling violence. They are responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands, and including American citizens.

We also announced the day before yesterday seven additional rewards, ranging from $2 million to $15 million, each targeting others, among them the high-ranking members of CJNG. These rewards are offered on the Department of State’s Narcotic Rewards Program and the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. These both programs have proven to be highly effective tools in assisting the U.S. law enforcement in identifying and bringing to justice 90 – over 90 major dangerous criminals and paid more than $200 million in reward money.

We will use every tool at our disposal to hunt down, dismantle, and destroy these ruthless foreign terrorist organizations and to defend America from the violence and drugs that have torn apart families and communities. In addition to these rewards, the Department of State is imposing visa restrictions on 65 individuals who are family members or close associates of persons linked to the cartel – this in order to prevent their entry into our country. Twenty-six of those individuals had existing visas which have now been revoked. Under the leadership of Secretary Rubio, the Department of State, together with our U.S. law enforcement partners, will continue to protect our nation, the American people, and our hemisphere from the violence and terror inflicted by CJNG, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.

But we need help from the public. Anyone with information should contact either the DEA, FBI, or the Homeland Security Investigations. Help us. Help us find and convict these criminals and protect the American people. Thank you. Thank you for being here with us today.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Assistant Secretary. We are now going to start the question and answers section, where the deputy assistant secretary will answer in English.

Dear journalists, we ask each one of you to have your name and affiliation, press affiliation, handy on the platform so we can identify you. Otherwise, we won’t be able to call you to participate. In order to make a question, please raise your virtual hand in the platform and when I announce your name we will ask you to speak. Please just ask a single question in a concise manner. If you do not have a microphone, you can make your question – ask your question in written using the Q&A, the question and answers, tab.

Now we’re going to start with Galo Arellano from NTN24.

QUESTION: Hello, can you hear me?

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Yes. Go ahead, Galo.

QUESTION: Okay. Perfect. My question is if Mexico is unable to arrest these eight high-priority targets, is the United States prepared to use other tools to protect its national security?

DAS GONZALES: Thank you, Galo. We intend to continue working very closely in collaboration with the Mexican authorities to pursue, identify, capture, and bring to justice these individuals. How we do that will depend on the nature of the information we get and how viable those kinds of actions will be. But we will absolutely work in partnership with our Mexican counterparts to find the most effective way to achieve our national security interests.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Very well. We’re going to continue with the next question with Ángel Hernández. Please identify yourself as well as yourself as well as your press organization, please.

QUESTION: Hello, Secretary. This is Ángel Hernández from Millennium, Mexico City. So I was wondering – you said that there were over 60 visa restrictions, be it 26 of those visas were actually revoked. If there is any chance we can know if there are Mexican officials or law enforcement agents who were sanctioned by the State Department, not disclosing their identities, but if there are some Mexican official or law enforcement agent sanctions by this means?

DAS GONZALES: Thank you, Ángel. Our visa restrictions allow for the removal of visas or denial of visas for family members, close associates, and those enabling the narcotrafficking or transnational criminal activities of principal individuals that we are targeting. There are not restrictions on who we can impose those visa restrictions on. At this point, however, we are not releasing the names or any particular affiliations of those individuals.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. I want to remind you that journalists can also ask their questions in Spanish, since we have simultaneous interpretation, both languages. We’re going with Glenna Milberg. Please identify your outlet.

QUESTION: Good morning. Glenna Milberg, WPLG Local 10 News in south Florida. My question is: Is this attention to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel one of many? Why particularly this cartel and, for instance, Sinaloa and others in Mexico who pose possibly similar dangers – what is the U.S. operationally doing in that regard? Thank you.

DAS GONZALES: Sure. Thank you, Glenna. We are going after – as the President has directed – all cartels, all narco-terrorist organizations that pose a threat to the United States. Today, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación is the cartel that poses the most significant, severe, and immediate threat to U.S. interests. But we are able to do multiple things at the same time, and so we absolutely are not taking our eyes off the ball in targeting Sinaloa and other cartels, other narco-terrorist organizations.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Okay. Thank you. Now we’re going to move on to Matthew Lee. Go ahead, Matthew. Please identify your outlet.

QUESTION: Matthew Lee, Inner City Press. Thanks for doing this. I wanted to ask – the announcement says this is for arrest or conviction in any country. Do you believe all eight – does the U.S. believe all eight are in Mexico? I’m thinking about this Wenshen Xu that was arrested in Honduras. And so I just wonder if there is an international aspect to this, and also whether the UN’s – if something called the UN Office of Drugs and Crime – are you working through them? Are they useful at all? Thanks a lot.

DAS GONZALES: Absolutely. We are working and these authorities allow us to work very closely in partnership with counterpart law enforcement agencies in all kinds of countries. These are global tools, and information that we may get may provide information that a targeted individual is in the United States, in Mexico, Colombia, many other places. And so we will use all information we get and track down those leads in partnership with host country law enforcement entities to pursue them wherever we can.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC, is a very capable organization with which this U.S. State Department does partner in lots of capacity building and training and joint operations activities, mostly on the capacity building and capabilities side more than the actual law enforcement operational side. But we take advantage of every opportunity that we have through UNODC and with UNODC in developing relationships with counterpart law enforcement agencies and leveraging those to advance the protection of American citizens.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) We have a question from José Díaz from the newspaper Reforma, from Mexico. Question is: What states within Mexico does U.S. Government suspects they – Pelón may be hiding, the new boss of the CJNG?

DAS GONZALES: I would have to defer you to the U.S. Department of Justice for any information more operational or specific like that.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now we have Elizabeth Hernández. Please identify your outlet.

QUESTION: Hi. Good morning. I’m Elizabeth Hernández from La Razón, and thanks for taking my question. Juan Carlos Valencia González was born in Santa Anna, California and has been publicly described as a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen. Does the State Department currently recognize him as a U.S. citizen? And if so, and if he still holds the USA citizenship, how does that affect the legal strategy to arrest, prosecute, or otherwise pursue him compared with a cartel leader who’s only a Mexican national?

DAS GONZALES: Great. Thank you for that question, Elizabeth. Our authorities allow us to pursue threats to American citizens, whoever they are. In terms of the specifics of how U.S. law enforcement pursue those, again, I would have to defer you to the U.S. Department of Justice. But whether one is a citizen of the United States, a citizen of Mexico, of Bolivia, of Venezuela, joint – dual citizen, is irrelevant. If they pose a threat to American citizens, American communities, we have the ability to target them, as we have shown over and over, and we’ll absolutely do that.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now we’re going with Daniel Collín from TN23, Guatemala.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good morning. Daniel Borja from 13 Television from Honduras. I couldn’t write down my question. Mr. Deputy Assistant Secretary, how are you going to work – how is it going to work to receive these reports? We know that CJNG has many connections with countries like Peru, Honduras, et cetera. How is this rewards program is going to work to provide these reports, or how to provide the information to the authorities? Thank you.

DAS GONZALES: Great. Excellent question. So for each individual, they are being pursued by different law enforcement agencies – the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (sic), Homeland Security Investigations. And so we would encourage people with information about any of those individuals to contact the respective tip line of the agency. If that is too difficult, 1-800-CALL-FBI is a great first point of entry. If they are overseas, they are also absolutely welcome to contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, and through our U.S. embassy we can connect with the appropriate U.S. law enforcement agency.

So again, it doesn’t matter if you are in the United States or where around the world that you may be; if you have information, absolutely reach out to either the embassies or contact the U.S. law enforcement agencies directly.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now, yes, we are going to open the microphone to Mr. Collín from Guatemala. I’m sorry, I apologize for the mistake. You can now use your microphone.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good morning. Can you hear me?

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Yes, go ahead.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good morning. What kind of coordination you will have with Guatemala? Because we can see that the U.S. agencies are coordinating with the government, and specifically with these groups – regarding these groups related to the narcotraffic, since we have been seeing coordination with majors, local authorities, and these have been expanding in Guatemalan territory at the border with Mexico. What kind of strategies have you been adopting to fight these criminal groups? Thank you.

DAS GONZALES: Sure. The U.S. State Department, U.S. law enforcement agencies, U.S. Government writ large has longstanding relationships with our counterparts in Guatemala and most countries around the world. And so those relationships extend at the head of state level frequently, at the ministry of justice level often, certainly at the levels of individual law enforcement agencies.

And so the specific tactics that U.S. law enforcement or diplomats may engage in in Guatemala or any other particular country, I would have to refer to the Department of Justice or the specific agency. But our engagements with these countries are robust, are long-lasting, based on relationships that serve the interests and the security of the people of the United States and the U.S. as a country – but also the countries of our partner nations and the publics in those countries.

And so we absolutely identify what are our joint interests, where do we see mutual threats, and where we can we absolutely work together with our partners to respond to those.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Okay, thank you. Now we’re going to read a few written questions that were received through the question-and-answer section in Zoom. We have a question from Sofia Pisani, who does not have audio. She is a journalist from Univision in D.C. “Did you consider that any other countries besides Mexico should collaborate in the capture of these possible leaders of the drug-trafficking organizations and how that relationship would look like?”

DAS GONZALES: Sure. Again, the rewards programs that we have in place are seeking information leading to the arrest and conviction – anywhere in the world – of the individuals that we have identified. Many of them, because of the organization with which they are affiliated, we assume will be living in Mexico, but they can be in plenty of other places around the hemisphere, around the world.

And so our U.S. law enforcement agencies, as I’ve just said, have longstanding, robust relationships with counterpart law enforcement agencies in countries throughout the Americas and around the world. And so we leverage those partnerships – often authorities, U.S. law enforcement authorities working out of U.S. embassies hand in glove, living in those countries. And so we work with them to find and collaborate with host governments, host government law enforcement agencies where we – ever we possibly can, to yield the result that we’re aiming for, which, again, is the arrest, the capture, the conviction of individuals who pose threats to the United States. And again, because they likely also often pose threats to the people and nations with whom we are partnering, that collaboration very frequently is quite fruitful.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now we have a question from Andrés Fidanza from El Salvador. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks a lot. I want to know – with more than 100 million in reward, how do you insurance the safety, the legal protection, the immigration status of informants in Mexico and other countries? And what timeline do you have to pay the – and criteria also to pay the reward? Thanks.

DAS GONZALES: Andrés, thank you for that question. As you can imagine, the nature of the informants and how we deal with them is incredibly sensitive, because often people are putting themselves at risk, but they’re also doing so to protect their communities, themselves, their countries.

And so I will say that we absolutely do communicate with the informants. That’s how we get the information and that’s how also we share with them any kinds of modalities that we may put in place to support their protection, their anonymity, the link that they may have to the reward program. All of that is very closely held.

And so, like I say, to date more than $200 million of reward money has been paid. More than 90 violent criminals have been brought to justice, in part at least through information provided because of these rewards programs. We use these rewards programs because they work. We use these rewards programs also because they work for the people who provide us the information. We do protect them.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now I’m going to read a question from a journalist, but a message for all the journalists, please: If you do have a microphone, you get – want to ask your question, please raise your virtual hand. And for the rest, I’m going to read this question from Ricardo Trejo from Enfoque Noticias Radio in Mexico. Question is: “You in the U.S., do you believe that Mexico has the ability and the will to face the drug cartels?”

DAS GONZALES: We absolutely recognize that President Claudia Sheinbaum has committed publicly to combating illicit drugs, illicit fentanyl production; to increase seizures. She – under her leadership, Mexico has supported historic transfers and apprehensions of criminals and narco-terrorists.

At the same time, more must be done to confront the shared threats that we face. Structural challenges absolutely remain, and the continued flow of deadly drugs across our border requires a comprehensive approach to counter the influence of criminal organizations in parts of Mexico and instances of corruption with some institutions. But with our Mexican counterparts, we absolutely aim to strengthen that security cooperation, to strengthen and embolden law enforcement operations and criminal prosecutions while pursuing our policies to incentivize stronger, swifter action against drug production and trafficking. Our goal remains to reduce the devastating impact of illicit fentanyl and other drugs on American communities, and we value the partnership with Mexican authorities in achieving that.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. We have a question, an audio question, as well as another written question. These will be the very last two questions today. I have a question I’m going to read from Jorge Isaac Jiménez from Radio America from Venezuela: “Do you have information on the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, whether – regarding whether they have any connection to the Soles in Venezuela or any other cartel in Venezuela? And what is the current status of the Soles from Venezuela?”

DAS GONZALES: Yeah. Jorge, thank you for that question. In terms of the specific linkages between organizations like that, I would have to defer you to the U.S. law enforcement or the U.S. Department of Justice.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Now we’ll go with Abel Fernández. Please identify your outlet.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Hi, I’m Abel Fernández from El País. My question is regarding the restrictions. The Department of State is anticipating any changes, any changes to travel advisories in Mexico, specifically Jalisco? And are you going to reconsider traveling or are you anticipating any retaliation from the cartels? Thank you.

DAS GONZALES: Great. Thank you, Abel. I’m a long fan and reader and listener to El País. In terms of travel advisories, that’s an issue that U.S. embassies and we here in the State Department are constantly following. We follow the information that we have as well as the actions on the ground that would justify any kind of shift from what advice we provide to American citizens. And so are we considering that? We’re always considering that in every part of the world based on the dynamics at play.

At this point, I have not heard of an immediate reaction that would warrant a change. But that could change today. It could change in a couple of months. It may not change. And so I would encourage Americans who are considering traveling to Mexico, anywhere in Mexico, anywhere in the world, before they travel look at the State Department’s website and understand what are the risks and the advice that the State Department provides to people traveling, whether it’s to that country or to that subpart province, state, city in a country, to make sure that you are maximally informed about the risks that you may face and how to protect yourself.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you so much. So this is how we are closing this virtual press conference, and I thank the journalists, international journalists. It has been a pleasure to have the Assistant Deputy Secretary Gonzales. We want to remind you that the transcription of this press conference will be published at the Spanish website of the Department of State. If you have any questions regarding today’s press conference, you can contact the Media Hub in Miami by email, Miamihub@state.gov. Miami H-U-B at state.gov. See you next time. Thank you.

# # #


The Anniversary of a Historic Breakthrough and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)
08/08/2026
The Anniversary of a Historic Breakthrough and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)
08/08/2026 10:11 AM EDT



Marco Rubio, Secretary of State


The Anniversary of a Historic Breakthrough and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)


Press Statement





August 8, 2026



One year ago today, President Trump secured peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan when he hosted President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia together at the White House and witnessed their signing of a historic Joint Declaration. This declaration ended decades of conflict in the South Caucasus and launched the trailblazing Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity — TRIPP.

Over the past twelve months, the United States has worked side-by-side with Armenia and Azerbaijan to turn that promise into progress. The TRIPP – a multimodal transit route that will modernize rails, road, energy and digital infrastructure – is on its way to becoming a reality with engineering surveys for the railway in Armenia already underway and Azerbaijan’s near completion of a highway and railroad to connect into Armenia.

Peace has opened the door to enhanced relationships between the United States, Armenia, and Azerbaijan that will add to the economic prosperity of all three countries. Today, I am pleased to announce that the Trans-Caspian Enterprise Fund is up and running, led by a newly elected board of directors and capitalized with $201 million in U.S. government funding to spur private sector investment across the Trans-Caspian Trade Route (Middle Corridor) in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

This progress reflects a simple truth: peace and prosperity reinforce one another. TRIPP is more than an infrastructure project — it is a vital link in the Trans-Caspian Trade Route, a driver of commercial opportunities for the United States and others, and a model for how economic cooperation can cement peace following the resolution of long-standing disputes.

The United States remains fully committed to working with Armenia and Azerbaijan as they build on this foundation. We congratulate both nations on the courage and vision they have shown over the past year, and we look forward to continued progress toward a durable, lasting peace in the South Caucasus.










     



This email was sent to politikimx@gmail.com using Granicus Communications Cloud on behalf of: U.S. Department of State · 2201 C Street NW · Washington, DC 20520