NATO foreign ministers descended on Brussels on Wednesday for urgent talks on the rapidly shifting Russia-Ukraine war -
but one chair was conspicuously empty.
For the first time since 1999, a US Secretary of State skipped a NATO government meeting, leaving allies stunned.
The missing man: Marco Rubio.
While Europe battles its most consequential security crisis in decades, Rubio has been nowhere near the negotiations.
Instead, he has plunged himself into a separate geopolitical battleground, Venezuela, the oil-rich adversary accused of
facilitating the industrial supply of drugs into the US.
'If you are focused on America and 'America First,' you start with your own hemisphere,' Rubio told Sean Hannity in a
recent interview, arguing that threats closer to home matter more to Americans than 'fights wars abroad.'
The comment was widely interpreted inside Washington as a pointed, if understated, swipe at Donald Trump and the growing
circle of envoys, official and unofficial, who have been devoting their time to attempting to broker peace with Vladimir
Behind the scenes, the snub has intensified interest in the political and diplomatic crosscurrents now shaping the
administration's foreign-policy inner circle.
An American diplomat focused on Europe familiar with ongoing conversations at the State Department, told Daily Mail that
Rubio's fixation on Venezuela is hardly just about policy — it's about power.
'Rubio's top priority is his Latin American agenda - he needs to satisfy his wealthy Venezuelans in Florida who are
useful for his political future. He sees Ukraine as a loser topic in the MAGA world,' the diplomat said.
'I know Rubio doesn't trust Putin and knows that Putin is playing Trump. Sitting down with all his European counterparts
now would risk putting him publicly crosswise with Witkoff and Kushner.'
Three sources at the State Department tell Daily Mail it is well understood inside the White House that Rubio is among
the most pro-Ukraine voices in the administration.
At the same time, they say Rubio holds a dim view of Trump's personal envoy, real-estate magnate Steve Witkoff.
'He doesn't necessarily respect him and how he is going about his negotiations. But he would never say that publicly,' a
second State Department source said.
These tensions are now spilling into questions about Rubio's day-to-day role.
Insiders say his increasingly frequent presence at the White House, and his relative absence from diplomatic missions
traditionally handled by the State Department, is neither accidental nor unnoticed.
Rubio is well known for being a traditionalist and hardliner from Miami's Cuban exile community – unwavering in his
objections to negotiate with Maduro and his narco-terror government.
On his first overseas trip, the 'America-First' leader visited Panama and other Central American countries, using
diplomacy to press Panama to curb what the US views as excessive Chinese influence over the Panama Canal.
With Venezuela now looming larger than ever, insiders say Rubio's time at the White House reflects a desire to stay
close to the center of national security decision-making.
Congress is openly questioning the legal basis for the administration's recent boat strikes, and officials may need to
shield the administration from legality concerns, perhaps by adding provisions to the National Defense Authorization
Against this backdrop, Pentagon lead Pete Hegseth allegedly issued a verbal directive during the first US strike on a
suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean instructing forces to 'leave no survivors.'
The White House and Pentagon previously shot this accusation down, calling the article 'fake news' and claiming the
quotes from the Defense Secretary were 'fabricated.'
The press secretary doubled down on this, stating the decision to re-strike a vessel in September was made by Admiral
Frank M Bradley, and that Hegseth stood behind his decision.
Last week, Trump spoke with Maduro and told him to step down as soon as possible.
US officials are reportedly considering letting Venezuela's embattled leader Nicolas Maduro spend his remaining years in
comfort in a wealthy foreign country.
A senior Trump administration source told the New York Post that Secretary of State has suggested the idea of Maduro
Last month, the Trump administration labeled Maduro and his inner circle as a foreign terrorist organization, a move
that broadens Washington's military options inside Venezuela.
Rubio charged that the notorious Cartel de los Soles, said to be under Maduro's control, was 'responsible for terrorist
The White House has used that terrorist designation to defend the strikes and repeatedly backed the decision making
behind the military action, saying they are legal, and describing them as 'self defense.'
Right now, US leaders across different cabinets are working to look over the information they have gathered and decide
what their next moves will be.
A State Department spokesperson responded to the Daily Mail on Rubio's absence at the NATO meeting, saying, 'Secretary
Rubio has already attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies and it would be completely impractical to expect him at
On the reporting on Witkoff, they mentioned that Secretary Rubio is 'honored to be a part of President Trump's team and
advance his agenda. 'Anonymous gossipers slinging baseless smears have never done anything to advance the cause of peace