Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a press briefing on Wednesday with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness as the Trump Administration handles the fallout after a Signal chat discussing detailed plans for an attack against the Houthis was leaked to a reporter.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon.
00:02It is my great pleasure to welcome United States Secretary of State the Honorable Marco
00:10Rubio to Jamaica.
00:12Now, I have known Secretary of State Rubio for some time, and I've always been very impressed
00:17by his deep knowledge of the region.
00:23Jamaica is deeply honored that you have chosen to visit us first on your official visit to
00:33the English-speaking Caribbean.
00:36This visit so early in your term confirms the strength of historic friendship and strategic
00:42partnership between Jamaica and the United States, one built on shared values, democratic
00:49ideals, and people-to-people ties.
00:54Our nations have long been united by a common commitment to freedom, prosperity, and security,
01:02and your visit today reaffirms this bond.
01:07Today, we engaged in productive and constructive discussions focused on strengthening this
01:13partnership and expanding opportunities for collaboration.
01:18During our meeting, we addressed several critical areas of cooperation.
01:24Security – one major area – we reaffirmed our commitment to enhancing cooperation in
01:30combating transnational crime, ensuring the collective safety of our citizens, and mutually
01:37secured borders.
01:40We discussed a global war on gangs, and there is already significant policy alignment with
01:49both countries in this regard.
01:51The United States has been instrumental in supporting Jamaica's efforts to bolster
01:58its marine domain awareness and intelligence surveillance capabilities, which are crucial
02:05in our fight against organized criminal networks.
02:09We discussed expanded and repurposing development assistance towards our shared goals, including
02:17security.
02:19This will exponentially expand our cooperation in fighting lottery scammers, transnational
02:25organized crimes, trafficking in guns, and building safer communities.
02:33We are committed in ensuring our partnership delivers results in driving down criminality
02:39and trafficking in this hemisphere.
02:43On Haiti, we look forward to continued partnership with the United States as we seek to work
02:50with the Haitian leadership and stakeholders to address the ongoing crises in Haiti.
02:56The extraordinary humanitarian, civil, and national security challenges in Haiti pose
03:03an acute threat to Haitians, to regional stability, and indeed to its close neighbors, including
03:11Jamaica.
03:12We agreed that we must do everything we can to stabilize the security situation in Haiti
03:19so that they are better able to build capacity and address their political and humanitarian
03:25challenges.
03:26On trade, recognizing the United States as Jamaica's largest trading partner, with bilateral
03:34trade surpassing $3 billion in 2023, we explored avenues to further expand trade relations
03:41between our two countries.
03:43The renewal of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act was raised as a matter of critical
03:49importance to trade for ourselves and for all CARICOM member states.
03:55We also explored means to attract increased U.S. investment into Jamaica's emerging sectors.
04:04With our stable macroeconomic framework and positive growth trajectory, Jamaica is open
04:10for enhanced U.S. investment across multiple sectors, including energy and nearshoring.
04:18In terms of logistics, the discussion touched on working with U.S. companies to leverage
04:24Jamaica's location as a premier transshipment hub in the Americas, and this will further
04:30bolster Jamaica's work as a major logistics hub for global trade.
04:40On labor issues, the United States and Jamaica have enjoyed an 80-year-old history relationship
04:50in terms of bilateral labor agreements, where we provide short-term skilled and semi-skilled
04:56labor in sectors such as agriculture and hospitality.
05:01We discussed ways to expand and enhance these agreements, including skills development partnerships
05:08to upskill and reskill Jamaican workers.
05:14On our travel advisory, we discussed significant progress that we are making in bringing down
05:21all major crimes, and that Jamaica today is safer than at any time in the last two decades.
05:30In fact, crimes against visitors represent less than 0.01 percent of the more than three
05:39million visitors to Jamaica annually.
05:43We are committed to working collaboratively to ensure that travel advisories reflect the
05:49current realities and promote travel to Jamaica.
05:54I'm confident that the dialogue initiated today will lead to tangible outcomes, benefiting
06:00both our peoples and contributing to mutual stability and prosperity.
06:06Indeed, our concern for enhanced regional and hemispheric security and prosperity was
06:12recognized as a shared one.
06:15I wish my CARICOM colleagues who are now in Kingston productive meetings as well with
06:21the Secretary this afternoon.
06:23Jamaica remains committed to fostering a partnership with the United States, one grounded in mutual
06:30respect, shared values, and a collective ambition for stronger and a more resilient future.
06:38I extend my sincere gratitude to Secretary Rubio and his delegation for their visit and
06:45for the productive and forward-looking discussions we have had.
06:49We look forward to building upon this foundation, deepening our collaboration, and taking our
06:56partnership to new and greater heights for the lasting benefit of both our nations.
07:03Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for joining us, and I now give the floor to
07:08Secretary Rubio for his press statement.
07:10Well, Mr. Prime Minister, first of all, thank you for the very warm welcome.
07:14On Tuesday, I completed my ninth week on the job, so I told you I'd be here early.
07:20I think that's pretty early, and I'm glad to be here so soon.
07:25Thank you to the foreign minister as well for welcoming me and all the work we do together
07:28and to the people of Jamaica.
07:31The ties, I would say, between the United States and Jamaica don't need to be explained.
07:35They're incredibly strong, and in particular, my home state of Florida.
07:38We were commenting close to 800,000 to a million Jamaican expatriates who call the United States
07:45home, and I asked, was that just in Florida, because it's a very vibrant community that's
07:50contributed so much to the place that I've called home for so long.
07:53And so we have a shared history that's tied together by people.
07:56I also would say that some substantial percentage of Americans have traveled here at some point
08:02in their lives, and that also binds countries together.
08:05Nothing binds countries and cultures more closely together than people, and we certainly
08:10have that in common, and we want to continue to make sure that we build on that.
08:16We did touch on a couple of topics.
08:18The first is trade.
08:19The world has been closely followed.
08:21The president is in the midst of realigning American global trade policy, primarily to
08:26reset global trade in a way that's fair to the U.S. after 20 or 30 years of what we believe
08:31is unfairness, not when it comes to Jamaica, but broader.
08:35And from that will come real opportunities to create new alignments and new trade arrangements
08:39and new trade opportunities, and I believe Jamaica is one of those places that together
08:43we both stand to benefit.
08:44In particular, we discussed supply chains, and we asked ourselves, why, if so many of
08:49these products are destined for the North American market, why are so many of the productive
08:54capacities located halfway around the world?
08:56And there's a lot of different reasons why that's happened, but it makes all the sense
08:59in the world to see more productive capacity, more manufacturing, more industry relocated
09:04into our hemisphere.
09:06We certainly have the labor and the population and the desire to do so in our hemisphere.
09:10It's closer to the end markets.
09:12And so we want to pursue opportunities to make that possible, and clearly I think Jamaica
09:16is one of those places that could benefit, and the prime minister has that vision for
09:20the country and the creation of not just jobs, but jobs that pay even better than the jobs
09:26that maybe some could find now.
09:27So it's an opportunity I think would be mutually beneficial, and we're going to actively seek
09:32and look for ways to make that possible.
09:34I also think there's extraordinary opportunities for investment, and we talked about it, whether
09:38it's particularly in energy.
09:42The United States is going to be producing a lot of liquefied natural gas, which is a
09:47very clean fuel that we have in abundance and that we seek to export.
09:52And it's also critical, by the way.
09:54You cannot have manufacturing without reliable and affordable energy.
09:59And so it's one of those things that I think potentially we could continue to partner on,
10:02along with other things, whether it's mining opportunities off the seabed.
10:06In essence, to utilize all of the resources of the country in a responsible way that protects
10:11your environment, that protects your natural beauty, but at the same time is generating
10:15income and opportunity of employment for the people.
10:18Ultimately, governments have two prime responsibilities, the safety and the prosperity of their people.
10:24And your prime minister and his government is very focused on those two priorities.
10:29We did talk about tourism, because obviously it's a significant part of your economy, and
10:33we pledged we were going to go back and reevaluate the travel advisories as they currently stand
10:38to ensure that they do reflect the reality of the new numbers and what the numbers show,
10:43because you've made very impressive progress in your general numbers overall when it comes
10:48to the murder rate and so forth.
10:50But in particular, those travel advisories are designed to American travelers, and I
10:55think we need to analyze that and just ensure that the status we're currently in accurately
11:00reflects the status quo and takes into account the progress you've already made this year
11:05and made last year, year over year, which I think is one of the highest numbers in terms
11:10of reductions that we've seen of any country in the region.
11:15We have to talk about security, and I think that the prime minister has phrased it in
11:18a way that I think is very beneficial, and that is, you know, he used the term global
11:22war on gangs.
11:23Maybe we'll find some other phraseology in the United States to describe it, but we're
11:27talking about the same problem.
11:28It's amazing.
11:29If you look across the region and really many parts of the world, how many of the threats
11:33we face in the world now that once came from an ideological terrorist organization or from
11:38a nation state are now coming from nongovernmental criminal organizations, who in some cases
11:45are more powerful than the governments in some of these countries, and we've confronted
11:48this issue.
11:49It's a challenge in Mexico.
11:50It's a challenge on the border between Venezuela and Colombia.
11:53It is the challenge in Haiti, and it's been a challenge here, and it's a multifaceted
11:58challenge.
11:59They are transnational for a number of reasons.
12:02One as an example is, and we've acknowledged this in our conversations that lead back to
12:05my time in the United States Senate, how many of the guns and the weapons that are being
12:09used by gangs to commit acts of violence here in Jamaica are purchased in the United States
12:16and then shipped here, and we want to commit to doing more to stopping that flow at the
12:19same time as we do more to commit to increasing your capacity.
12:22That's the other thing I underline.
12:24What we're talking about here when we talk about American assistance is America helping
12:28Jamaica build its own capacity, its own ability to confront these challenges and solve these
12:34problems because security is a baseline for everything.
12:38To that end, we have some good things to announce today here.
12:43The Jolt Fusion Center that is starting up again and that's been even further strengthened
12:48that's going to help address lottery scamming.
12:51We can announce this synthetics detection equipment for Jamaica's forensic labs.
12:58Another counter-gang recruitment program that we seek to launch as a result of our visit
13:03here today, and announce something that I think is really important, and that is software,
13:09intelligence software for the law enforcement here in Jamaica to combat gangs, things like
13:15night vision goggles as well, technology, and we look to do more.
13:18On that end, let me touch on a topic that we talked about just a little bit.
13:22I'll touch on another topic, then I'll get to this final one.
13:26You mentioned upskilling and helping.
13:30It's a topic we hadn't touched on directly extensively before.
13:33We talked about it today.
13:35We seek to go back and find ways that we can partner to create opportunities for skills
13:40training so that if those companies, and we can attract those companies, if we can attract
13:44whether it's a logistics center or manufacturing to come to Jamaica, there's a workforce that's
13:50been equipped with the skills needed.
13:51We face this challenge domestically as well.
13:53We need to do that ourselves, but there may be things that we can do in collaboration
13:57with one another.
13:58This touches on the issue of aid, very controversial in the United States, but it's one of the
14:02reasons why I wanted to come here today, because it in many ways highlights exactly
14:06what our vision for aid moving forward is.
14:08The United States is not getting out of the aid business.
14:11We are going to be providing foreign aid.
14:13The difference is we want to provide foreign aid in a way that is strategically aligned
14:18with our foreign policy priorities and the priorities of our host countries and our nation
14:24states that we're partners with.
14:25In essence, how that would work, how it has worked in the past, is USAID or some other
14:30entity would come into a country and say, this is what we think you need, and then they
14:34go out and hire an NGO that maybe are the ones that convinced them that that's what
14:37you need, and they give them a bunch of money, and they come into the country, and they do
14:41things.
14:42Some of these programs are fine.
14:43They're nice things.
14:44Other times, not so much.
14:46Nonetheless, that's how it used to be.
14:48How we want it to be in the future is that our embassies are involved with the host government,
14:53our hosts, our partners, and we ask them, what are your needs?
14:57And we provide assistance geared towards the needs of the nation states that are hosting
15:02us and that we're partnering with.
15:04At the end, our partner in Jamaica, our partner all over the world, is the government.
15:09It's the host governments who have a clear vision for the future.
15:12And to the extent that our foreign aid can be helpful, it is in furtherance of what the
15:16people of your country have elected you to carry out.
15:19Here there are a lot of things.
15:20We've just described some of them.
15:21What should our foreign aid be geared towards?
15:23It should be geared towards looking for opportunities to increase skills training, looking for opportunities
15:28to attract investment in business and trade, and looking, obviously, for opportunities
15:34to expand on your own domestic intelligence capabilities.
15:37We are going to have foreign aid that is aligned to our foreign policy, and our foreign policy
15:41is going to be aligned to our mutual shared interests with the partners that we have all
15:45over the world.
15:46And I can tell you, Jamaica is an incredible partner to the United States.
15:49It's very cooperative on a number of fronts.
15:52And we will continue to work together, and we're going to work closer than we've ever
15:54worked before, because we are now going to have U.S. programs for foreign aid that are
15:59going to be aligned with the vision that you've elected your leaders to carry out for your
16:04country, and that benefits us both.
16:06And so I thank you for the opportunity to visit with you here today and talk about these
16:10things.
16:11I'm excited that we're going to be able to follow up on a lot of them and show real progress.
16:14The message that I've wanted to send in my travels, I've had to travel a couple of other
16:18places, but I've been to the hemisphere now twice, is very simple, and that is that the
16:22United States wants to ensure that when countries are cooperative and work with us and partner
16:27with us and constantly seek ways to engage us, that that leads to positive results and
16:32outcomes.
16:33We – it's not – you can call it rewarding, but what it really means is it has to be a
16:38mutually beneficial relationship.
16:40And we want countries in the world and we want countries in the region to identify being
16:45close to the United States as something that is beneficial and helpful, helpful to develop,
16:52helpful to grow, and frankly, helpful so that one day many countries can serve – and I
16:57think in Jamaica is already doing this – as a model of what other countries would seek
17:01to emulate, whether it's on security, on trade, on investment, on skills acquisition
17:06and improvement.
17:08These are the things that we want America's relationship with our partners to look like.
17:12And I can think of no better friend in the Caribbean and, frankly, in the Western Hemisphere
17:17than Jamaica and your government, Mr. Prime Minister, and so we thank you for this chance
17:21to visit with you so early.
17:23And as I joked a couple times, so I'll say it again – I think I told it to the cameras
17:26already – I wanted to come here early so when I come for the second and third time,
17:30they don't accuse me of only wanting to go to Jamaica.
17:32And – but in many ways, it really, truly feels like home and where I am in South Florida,
17:40and I thank you for your hospitality and this opportunity.
17:43MODERATOR Good afternoon, Prime Minister Holness and Secretary Rubio.
17:56Thank you both for your remarks just now.
17:59We have several members of the media from Jamaica and the United States in the room
18:03with us this afternoon, but we'll only be taking four questions, and I ask that those
18:09who have been selected that you please stand as you ask your question.
18:13And our first question is going to be from John Hudson of The Washington Post.
18:18QUESTION Thank you very much.
18:22Mr. Secretary, Republican Congressman Don –
18:24SECRETARY RUBIN He came with me.
18:25Don't say I don't take you to nice places.
18:26QUESTION Thank you for the hospitality.
18:27Beautiful weather, beautiful country.
18:28I appreciate it.
18:29SECRETARY RUBIN I'm sorry.
18:30Yeah.
18:31QUESTION Mr. Secretary, Republican Congressman Don Bacon
18:32weighed in on the signal chat breach, saying the White House is, quote, in denial that
18:39this was not classified or sensitive data.
18:42They should just own up to it and preserve credibility.
18:44Do you think that's true?
18:47Also here in Jamaica, there are USAID employees at our embassy, like so many others around
18:51the world, on administrative leave, not carrying out the work of the American people.
18:56Do you worry that the DOJ effort won't ultimately end up benefiting U.S. taxpayers?
19:02And Prime Minister, violence and instability remains in Haiti.
19:06What would you like to see from the United States in terms of being a productive force?
19:10And a State Department envoy yesterday called the presence of Cuban doctors in Jamaica and
19:16elsewhere human trafficking.
19:17Do you agree with that?
19:20SECRETARY RUBIN Let me take the first – I've already
19:22addressed the aid one, but let me address it again.
19:24This is not about getting rid of aid.
19:26This is about restructuring how we're going to do aid.
19:28And when you restructure, there is some disruption, but it has to happen.
19:31By the way, this is not an idea – this is an idea Condoleezza Rice wanted.
19:35This is an idea multiple secretaries of state throughout time have tried to achieve.
19:39And we intend to achieve it because we think it makes all the sense in the world.
19:42So I recognize that there's disruption involved when you make reform and you make change.
19:46But it's necessary because our foreign policy and our foreign aid have to be aligned.
19:50Foreign aid is an instrument of foreign policy, okay?
19:53It is not global charity.
19:55Jamaica's not asking for charity.
19:56They're asking for development assistance so they can become stronger at their security
20:00needs and other things of this nature.
20:02That's what they're asking for.
20:03They're not asking for a handout.
20:04They're asking for a hand up, help to build their capabilities so that they become a self-reliant
20:09partner and, frankly, could end up – and already are – helping other countries.
20:13Jamaica now is contributing to the effort in Haiti, as an example.
20:16So these are the kinds of things we want to see in our foreign aid.
20:19So look, our goal was not to disrupt anyone's life.
20:22Our goal was to restructure the way we deliver foreign aid so that it is aligned with our
20:26foreign policy and with what we're trying to carry out at our respective missions around
20:30the world.
20:31On the first question, let me just say on the signal thing, this thing was set up for
20:35purposes of coordinating how everyone was going to call – when these things happen,
20:40I need to call foreign ministers, especially of our close allies.
20:43We need to notify members of Congress.
20:45Other members of the team have different people they need to notify as well.
20:49And that was the purpose of why it was set up.
20:51Obviously, someone made a mistake – someone made a big mistake and added a journalist.
20:57Nothing against journalists, but you ain't supposed to be on that thing.
20:59So they got on there and this happened.
21:01I've been – so I can speak to myself and my presence on it.
21:05I think my role on it was – just speaking for my role, I contributed to it twice.
21:11I identified my point of contact, which is my chief of staff.
21:15And then later on, I think three hours after the White House's official announcements
21:20had been made, I congratulated the members of the team.
21:23I've been assured by the Pentagon and everyone involved that none of the information that
21:27was on there, though not intended to be divulged – obviously, that was a mistake and that
21:30shouldn't have happened and the White House is looking at it – but that none of the
21:33information on there at any point threatened the operation or the lives of our servicemen.
21:38And in fact, it was a very successful operation and it's an ongoing operation.
21:42But that was the intent behind it, and again, I think the Pentagon's made it clear that
21:48nothing on there would have endangered the lives or the mission, and the mission's
21:52been very successful.
21:53Was it classified, the information?
21:55Well, the Pentagon says it was not, and not only does it say it was not, they make very
21:59clear that it didn't put in danger anyone's life or the mission.
22:02The – there was no intelligence information.
22:04And understand, when this story first broke, they were sort of alluding to whether war
22:07maps or this – there was no war plans on there.
22:10This was a sort of description of what we could inform our counterparts around the world,
22:18when the time came to do so.
22:19Again, look, I think the White House is looking at this entire thing.
22:22How did that journalist get on there?
22:24Was this the appropriate – and I think there'll be reforms and changes made, so this never
22:27– this is not going to happen again, it can't.
22:30But I wanted everybody to understand why this thing was even set up in the first place and
22:33also understand very clearly the mission was successful and at no point was it endangered,
22:38and that's coming from the highest-ranking officials at the agency that was in charge
22:42of the actual operation, which is the Pentagon.
22:47In terms of Haiti, the United States has been an incredible partner, in fact, the lead partner,
22:54in ensuring that resources and organization is brought to the crisis in Haiti.
23:03In terms of what more could be done, I think we're at a phase in Haiti where there has
23:09to be a rapid expansion of the Haitian National Police, the HNP, in terms of the manpower
23:18and resources, because ultimately the HNP has to take on the gangs.
23:24The present holding situation that we have is not necessarily moving the situation forward
23:30as we would all like.
23:31So there would have to be a significant expansion in resources in support of the HNP to enable
23:38them to take on the gangs.
23:40In terms of Cuban doctors in Jamaica, let us be clear, the Cuban doctors in Jamaica
23:48have been incredibly helpful to us.
23:51Jamaica has a deficit in health personnel, primarily because many of our health personnel
23:56have migrated to other countries.
24:00We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here.
24:06We ensure that they are treated within our labor laws and benefit like any other worker.
24:11So any characterization of the program by others certainly would not be applicable to
24:18Jamaica.
24:20We are ensuring that our program complies with all the international laws and standards
24:26to which we are a party to.
24:29MODERATOR All right.
24:31Our next question will come from Tana Thomas from Nationwide News Network.
24:36Please stand.
24:37QUESTION Thank you.
24:38Secretary Rubio, my question is – or questions in relation to the matter of the Cuba Medical
24:44Cooperation Program as well.
24:46So the medical mission has been a cornerstone of health care in Jamaica and the Caribbean
24:51for over 50 years, according to our foreign minister.
24:54So how does the U.S. reconcile its stance on this program with the region's reliance
24:59on Cuban medical professionals, and what alternatives does it propose to ensure health care stability?
25:04SECRETARY RUBIO Well, yeah, I think the first thing is to
25:06separate the medical from the labor issues that we are pointing to, okay?
25:11This is not about doctors.
25:12This is not about the provision of medical assistance.
25:15We have no problem with medical assistance.
25:17We have no problem with doctors.
25:18We have a problem – and I'm not speaking about Jamaica.
25:20They're – we've discussed this today about following international labor standards
25:25and the like, but I'm just talking about this program in general, how it's operated
25:28around the world.
25:29And how it's operated around the world is that basically the doctors are not paid.
25:33In many other parts of the world, the doctors are not paid.
25:35The doctor – you pay the Cuban Government.
25:37The Cuban Government decides how much of anything to give them.
25:39They take away their passports.
25:42They basically operate as forced labor in many places.
25:46Now there are places that have better labor standards – perhaps Jamaica is one of those
25:50and that's fine – but I'm describing generally what the program has been.
25:54It has operated in that way in many parts of the world and placed these people in tremendous
25:58danger.
25:59And so we – I think we can all agree that the trafficking in labor, be they doctors
26:03or farm workers, is not something that we would want to be supportive of, and we find
26:08that to be an egregious practice on the part of the Cuban regime.
26:11Now every country operates their program differently.
26:14And obviously because of our relationship with Jamaica, we're going to engage with
26:18them on that and talk about it further and have a better understanding.
26:21Perhaps none of this applies in the way it's handled here, but generally that's the problem
26:25with the program.
26:26It's not that they're Cuban doctors.
26:28It's that the regime does not pay these doctors, takes away their passports, and basically
26:32it is in many ways forced labor.
26:34And that we cannot be in support of.
26:37Again, not speaking about here in particular, but in general about the program.
26:41Okay, our next question is going to come from Will Lowry from the National News.
26:48Thank you so much for taking my question, Mr. Secretary.
26:50I just want to circle back to John's question, Ari, the signal chat.
26:53Ah, the signal chat, yes.
26:55But of course, are you planning on making the Europeans pay for U.S. operations against
27:00the Houthis, given that their businesses seem to benefit more from opening up these shipping
27:05lanes, as discussed in that chat, and then moving to Russia and Ukraine?
27:09I was wondering if you could elaborate on the Black Sea ceasefire deal and whether – how
27:17it's progressing.
27:18President Zelensky has already questioned Russia's seriousness, saying, quote, they
27:23are trying to distort agreements and, in fact, to see both our intermediaries.
27:29So on the first question about – look, here's the problem, okay?
27:33These guys, these Houthis, these are pirates, okay?
27:36This is a band of – it's a gang, in essence, that's gotten control of a certain part,
27:42but these are a religious fanatic gang.
27:44And these guys have missiles and they've launched 174 attacks against U.S. Navy ships,
27:49150-something attacks on commercial vessels.
27:51They are literally saying they've controlled – they've set up a toll system at the
27:55Red Sea.
27:56These ships can go, these ships cannot.
27:57They don't blow up the Chinese ships, they don't blow up some of it, but they blow
28:00up all the other ships.
28:01This is not sustainable.
28:02And so I think the point that I've made publicly is we are doing a great favor to
28:06the world.
28:07The United States is doing a great favor to the world, going after these guys' capability
28:12of doing this.
28:13How do we live in a world where a group like this has advanced weapons, okay, and can shut
28:18down a shipping lane and increase the cost of shipping that we're all paying for?
28:23Everything we buy, all the stuff is embedded in the cost and in the price of these things
28:27is how much it costs to ship it.
28:28And so that's just not a sustainable thing.
28:30We can't allow it.
28:31So I think the point I would make is not, you know, we're going to make everybody
28:34pay or – it's everybody should recognize we are doing the world a great favor going
28:38after these guys, because this can't continue.
28:40This is unsustainable.
28:41What's next?
28:42You know, some gang is going to show up somewhere else and shut off another shipping street,
28:46a shipping lane.
28:47That's not practical.
28:48It cannot happen.
28:49So what was your first question?
28:50I was so fired up about that one that I forgot the other one.
28:53Oh, yes, that one, easy ones.
28:56Well, look, I think yesterday our negotiators are en route or perhaps they've already
29:00arrived after spending – I think they met with the Ukrainians twice, the Russians once.
29:05What we have here is an agreement in principle on a Black Sea ceasefire.
29:09We got two things from that.
29:10The first is we have more detailed definition of what the energy ceasefire entails.
29:16And the second is the principle concept of a Black Sea ceasefire.
29:21Obviously, after our meeting, as part of their release, the Russians detailed a number of
29:26conditions that they want to see met in order to do that.
29:29So we're going to evaluate that.
29:31Some of those conditions include sanctions that are not ours.
29:33They belong to the European Union.
29:36So we're going to be gathering and sort of when our folks get back, sitting down,
29:40going through the proposals, getting their impressions of the conversations so we can
29:44more fully understand what the Russian position is or what their ask is in exchange.
29:48And then we'll present that to the President, who will ultimately make a decision about
29:51what the next step is.
29:52I think it's a good thing that we have both the Ukrainians and the Russians talking about
29:57ceasefires, be they energy or be they potentially in the Black Sea.
30:01But obviously, this is hard and difficult work.
30:04This is a protracted almost three-and-a-half-year war now, a three-year war.
30:10It has a lot of framework of sanctions that have been built globally now that have to
30:19be looked at as part of an ultimate end to a conflict.
30:23There's a lot of things that have to be worked through.
30:25And I certainly think the only way you're going to make progress on these things is
30:28by engaging with both sides, understanding their asks, their demands, and seeing what's
30:34possible.
30:35So we're going to have a chance now to sort of sit down as a team and evaluate when they
30:37arrive in detail how the meetings went with the Ukrainians, how the meetings went with
30:42Russia, what are the Russians asking for, what are the Ukrainians asking for, compare
30:46all that, and then make a decision on that basis about what comes next in this process.
30:51In the end, the goal here is peace.
30:53The goal is to end a war where people are dying.
30:56And I think everyone should be happy that the United States is engaged in a process
30:59of ending a war and bringing about peace.
31:02It's not going to be easy.
31:03It won't be simple.
31:04It'll take some time.
31:05But at least we're on that road and we're talking about these things, and we're going
31:08to test it and see what's possible.
31:09We think we owe that to the world.
31:11And the President, I continue to say, is the only leader in the world right now, President
31:15Trump, who's in a position to even get these two nations to a city to talk about these
31:20things, albeit in rooms far apart from one another when these talks were going on.
31:26But nonetheless, they're talking.
31:27It's the first time in a while that we've seen any conversation about this.
31:30But we have a lot of work yet to be done, and we'll know more after we get the readout
31:33from our teams.
31:34MODERATOR Okay.
31:35Our last question will come from Andrea Chisholm from Television Jamaica.
31:40QUESTION Thank you.
31:42Secretary Rubio, given changes to U.S. immigration policies, there are some Jamaicans who are
31:48afraid to travel back to Jamaica, even though they are legitimate green card holders.
31:54What assurances can you give to those individuals that they will have no difficulty returning
31:58to the United States?
31:59And very quickly —
32:00SECRETARY RUBIO Well, yeah.
32:01Green card.
32:02Green card or residency?
32:03I mean, permanent residence, you're asking me about?
32:04QUESTION Permanent.
32:05SECRETARY RUBIO Yes.
32:06Okay.
32:07Okay.
32:08QUESTION And secondly, what problems, if any, does
32:09America have with China's investment in Jamaica?
32:12SECRETARY RUBIO Well, look.
32:13I mean, China's a rich and powerful country.
32:15Our problem is not investment, okay?
32:18Our problem is predatory practices.
32:19That's what we're concerned about.
32:20What we have seen all over the world is that China comes in and says, here's a bunch of
32:24money for a project they never billed, they bring their own workers to do the work, they
32:28don't hire the locals, they bring their own workers, and oftentimes it comes attached
32:32with a huge loan that can never be repaid, and now they hold it over your head forever.
32:37That's our concern.
32:38Our concern is unfair practices, too, where they come in, they're government-subsidized
32:41companies, underbid everybody because they're subsidized, but then they come back and charge
32:46you whatever they want because now they've got the contract.
32:49So these are the things that we remain very concerned about.
32:51Again, not specifically about Jamaica, but in general.
32:55And so that's what we'll continue to highlight.
32:58On the first point, I would say, let me talk about, if you're a green card holder, you're
33:02not illegally in the United States.
33:04If you're a green card holder, you are legally in the United States.
33:07What the President has said, and I don't know how anybody can disagree with this, every
33:10country in the world has immigration laws.
33:13And immigration laws, if you don't enforce them, you don't have immigration laws.
33:17Over the last few years, we've had, what, 13, 14, 15 million people enter the United
33:20States unlawfully and irregularly.
33:22No country in the world can assume that.
33:24By the way, that's not unique to us, right?
33:26Even here in Jamaica, you've faced challenges of migration.
33:29And it's not that we don't sympathize with people that are leaving difficult circumstances.
33:33It's that no society can absorb mass migration from anywhere in the world.
33:38You just can't do it.
33:39And we're facing that challenge.
33:40That's not specific to Jamaica, I'm just speaking in general.
33:43And so the President is doing something that, frankly, hasn't been done in a long time.
33:46He's enforcing our immigration laws.
33:48And that's what we're doing.
33:50So if you're a green card holder, you're not illegally in the United States.
33:54I think the challenge is, for those who are illegally in the United States, we have to
33:58have immigration laws.
33:59They have to be followed.
34:00I mean, I don't know why that's an unreasonable demand.
34:02And frankly, I mean, Jamaica is not a major source of illegal migration, to be frank.
34:07It's not even in the top 10 or top 20, for that matter, I don't think.
34:11But that said, we are enforcing our immigration laws.
34:14Because here's what happens if you don't.
34:16You'll get another 12 million people.
34:19And if tomorrow Jamaica announced anybody who wants to come can come in, you're going
34:22to get a lot of people too, and it's going to be very disruptive.
34:25So we need to have immigration laws, and we need to enforce them.
34:30And that's what we are, that's what the President is doing.
34:32That's what he promised voters he would do.
34:35And that's what we're going to continue to do.
34:37But if you're a green card holder, you're illegally in the United States, unless, unless,
34:41and I say this because a lot of these people come, unless you're some student visa holder
34:45who's a sympathizer of some terrorist organization and is running around in our streets like
34:49a lunatic burning down buildings and attacking students at universities.
34:53If you're one of these lunatics that's going to put on a mask over your face and break
34:57into a student union center and harass students, and we wouldn't have let you in in the first
35:01place.
35:02If you had told us that, if you told us, I'm going to America, not just to study at your
35:06university, but to tear up your campus, we would have never let you in.
35:09And if you do that, once you come into the United States, we're going to kick you out.
35:13We're going to do that.
35:14And I don't care, I don't care what terrorist organization is supporting, we're going to
35:17kick you out.
35:18If you're a gang member, we're going to kick you out.
35:20Okay?
35:21If you're one of these violent gang members that's coming to the United States, then we're
35:25going to kick you out.
35:26That, that we're going to do.
35:27There's no doubt about it.
35:28But that, the President's very committed to that.
35:30And, but if you're a green card holder and you're not any of these things, you're going
35:35to be fine.
35:37Prime Minister Hollis and Secretary Rubio, as we close today's press conference, we want
35:42to thank you for your engagement here today.
35:44We thank all of the members of the media and all of the other guests who are here, and
35:48we wish you safe travels and a happy rest of the day.