Marco Rubio said Saturday that the global order is changing rapidly after joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Speaking to reporters, Rubio said the world he grew up in “is gone” and that countries are entering a new era of geopolitics. He urged American allies to recognize the shift and work with the United States to shape a new direction for the West, adding that Washington has already been discussing these changes privately with many partner nations.
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt said Rubio notified senior members of Congress before the military operation. In a statement posted on X, she said Donald Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar-a-Lago with his national security team and also spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Leavitt added that Rubio contacted members of the so-called Gang of Eight, a group of top congressional leaders, and successfully briefed seven of the eight members ahead of the strikes.
The notification came as some lawmakers questioned whether the president had authority to approve the operation without Congress. Thomas Massie criticized the strikes as acts of war not authorized by Congress, while he and Ro Khanna planned to push for a vote limiting presidential war powers against Iran. At the same time, Rubio announced that Iran had been designated a state sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing the Iranian government of holding Americans and other foreign citizens as political leverage and calling for the immediate release of those being held.
