Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on Sunday, blasting her for pushing what he called a “stupid media narrative” about President Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace talks.
Brennan Pushes, Rubio Fires Back
Brennan claimed European leaders were coming to Washington on Monday to “back up” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and keep him from being “bullied” into concessions.
“That is not true,” Rubio snapped, cutting her off. “They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelenskyy from being bullied… This is such a stupid media narrative.”
Rubio explained that the administration had already held a dozen meetings with Zelenskyy and multiple talks with European allies in the days leading up to Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“They are coming here because we’ve been working with the Europeans,” Rubio told Brennan. “We invited them to come. The President talked to these leaders as early as Thursday.”
🚨 RUBIO BLASTS CBS HOST MARGARET BRENNAN: “This is such a stupid media narrative that [European leaders] are coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelensky into a bad deal. We’ve been working with these people for weeks… WE invited them to come.” pic.twitter.com/Qx7YBuw258
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 17, 2025
Trump’s Push for Peace
Trump hosted Putin in Alaska last week for a high-stakes summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. While no ceasefire was reached, both sides called the talks “productive,” with plans to meet again.
Trump has also scheduled meetings with Zelenskyy and European heads of state to discuss the concessions made, which envoy Steve Witkoff described as “substantial security guarantees” — including Russia legislatively pledging not to seize more Ukrainian land after a deal.
Zelensky’s Oval Office Clash
The tough diplomacy followed a heated Oval Office exchange earlier this year, where Zelenskyy mocked the idea of negotiating with Putin.
Trump fired back:
“We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks. You don’t have the cards.”
The clash led to Zelenskyy storming out of Washington early, though the minerals deal he initially refused to sign was later ratified.
