QUESTION: Are you asking your allies to follow America First policy or to find their own path?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, I'm asking our allies to be strong. The stronger they are, the stronger we are collectively. That's always been the theme. We want a strong Europe. We want strong partners in Europe. We have - every country is different. Obviously, they're making different decisions. But for example, in Greece, in Portugal where we're going today, there are many countries that have stepped up - frankly, the Germans - who are stepping up and doing their part to be stronger.
The stronger - it's a very simple concept. It's not very complicated, guys. NATO is a collection of countries that have created an alliance. The stronger the individual members of NATO are - both societally, economically, and militarily - the stronger NATO is. And that's what we want, and that's what we've been asking for. And I think there's good signs in a lot of different places where that's happening. And obviously, there are some countries that are dragging, and I know they have a lot of domestic pressure, but I think this is good for all of us.
QUESTION: On the reporting about your ambassador —
QUESTION: Is there anything you wanted to - the reporting from The Wall Street Journal that Ambassador Guilfoyle had sought financial —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, guys, let me tell you something, okay? You guys are going to ask me this. You're going to ask me again in Portugal. I know the game, okay? The game is someone gives information to a newspaper or a media outlet; the media outlet reports it. You immediately turn to me and say, I need you to respond to our reporting. That's not the way this process works. Like, our job is not to respond every time someone decides to give the media something without any advance warning, without having any chance to look at it and see what's in there. That's not the way - that's not the way you run an organization, and that's not a serious way to conduct the policy of our country.
So I'm not going to comment on a story that literally posted a few hours ago. I get the game, okay? I've been in this for a long time. Within hours, some member of Congress will write you a letter demanding you answer questions to something we've never seen before. I don't even know if it's true or not true. So it's just not going to work that way, and it most certainly is not going to work that way when I'm sitting in another country. All right?
QUESTION: The speech last night, Mr. Secretary —
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, doesn't that demand an - at the very least an IG investigation?
SECRETARY RUBIO: I am - guys, I'm not playing this game with you, okay? You guys write a story and then your editors tell you, make sure you get a comment from him on something we haven't seen, okay? You guys are not going to be our only source of information in the world. I'm sorry to tell you that. And so I want you to understand —
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, that's not the way the process is going to work.
QUESTION: How does the process work then?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, first of all, the process doesn't work like this. We don't conduct these things in a press conference on a tarmac in a foreign country because you wrote a story or somebody else wrote a story because some source gave it to you. So get that out of your head, because that's never the way it's going to work with me. It's a game that's been played for a long time, but it's not a game we're going to play. We're conducting serious business here and we'll handle things appropriately. I don't even know if what you're reporting is true. You guys somehow walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it's the gospel. It's not the gospel. It's not the gospel for me. That's not the way we do it.
QUESTION: What are your feelings as you leave Greece, sir?
QUESTION: On your speech, why did you - why did you feel like it was important right now to deliver the message you did last night? Can you talk about the timing of the speech?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, it's a consistent message. I mean, the setting obviously is very unique because this is where democracy began. This was where so many of the pillars and the foundations of the West are from. And so it was a very unique setting obviously, and an opportunity to do it. But I think in many ways it also, I think, reinforces our ties to Greece, which is really a model ally, and we wanted to make sure that came across as well.
QUESTION: Are Iranian threats constraining where the U.S. can operate in Europe and within NATO territory?
SECRETARY RUBIO: No. The United States has the ability to operate - there's nothing we - there is nothing we want or need to do against Iran that we can't still do.
QUESTION: Can you compare and contrast Portugal and its support for the Iran operation with that of its immediate neighbor, Spain?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Can I compare and contrast it?
QUESTION: Or —
SECRETARY RUBIO: That's not the purpose. The purpose of our visit is not to start a problem with another country. Portugal is a great ally, a very cooperative ally of the United States, a country with which we already have a solid and growing relationship. And we visit these countries in order to reinforce those ties. That's the purpose of the trip.
QUESTION: Okay, thank you.
SECRETARY RUBIO: All right, let's go home. Well, not yet. We've got to stop in Portugal.
QUESTION: All right. Thank you.
