Rubio Declares ‘Old World Is Gone’ Following Iran Strikes
Rubio Declares ‘Old World Is Gone’ Following Iran Strikes
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a gaggle of reporters on Saturday, following U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran, that “the old world” he grew up in “is gone,” while urging American allies to realize that and help Washington forge a new path forward for the West.
“The world is changing very fast right in front of us,” Rubio said. “The old world is gone, frankly, the world I grew up in, and we live in a new era of geopolitics, and it’s gonna require all of us to sort of reexamine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”
He added, “We’ve had many of these conversations in private with many of our allies. We need to continue to have those conversations.”
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturday that Rubio notified senior congressional leaders ahead of the joint U.S. Israeli military operation against Iran.
Leavitt’s statement, posted to X, came as critics questioned whether President Donald Trump authorized the strikes without the required approval from Congress.
“President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago alongside members of his national security team. The President spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu by phone,” Leavitt wrote.
“Prior to the attacks, Secretary Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional notification, and he was able to reach and brief seven of the eight members,” she added.
“The President and his national security team will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day.”
Leavitt did not indicate whether Trump would return to Washington or remain at his Florida residence.
The so called “Gang of Eight” includes the Senate and House majority and minority leaders as well as the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that the group had been briefed.
“The Gang of Eight was briefed in detail earlier this week about potential military action against Iran,” Johnson said, according to The Independent.
Under the 1947 National Security Act, Congress must be kept “fully informed” of significant intelligence activities.
However, according to the Harvard Kennedy School, presidents from both parties have interpreted that language to mean that notifying the “Gang of Eight” satisfies the requirement rather than briefing the full intelligence committees.
Leavitt’s comments followed criticism from Rep. Thomas Massie, R Ky., who wrote on X, “Acts of war unauthorized by Congress.”
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D Calif., had planned to force a vote next week that would restrict Trump’s ability to launch strikes on Iran without formal congressional authorization.
As the debate over war powers intensified, Rubio announced Friday that Iran had been designated a state sponsor of wrongful detention.
“When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control of power by endorsing the hostage taking of US embassy staff,” Rubio said in a statement.
“For decades, Iran has continued to cruelly detain innocent Americans, as well as citizens of other nations, to use as political leverage against other states. This abhorrent practice must end.”
Rubio said Trump signed an executive order last fall to protect U.S. nationals from wrongful detention abroad and that Congress later enacted the Countering Wrongful Detention Act of 2025.
“The Iranian regime must stop taking hostages and release all Americans unjustly detained in Iran, steps that could end this designation and associated actions,” Rubio said.
Omar Received Donations From Restaurant Owner Who Stole Millions Meant for Kids
As President Donald Trump announced plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somali immigrants in Minnesota, new details have emerged connecting Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to individuals later convicted in a large-scale fraud scheme.
In January, the Department of Justice announced convictions against the co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minnesota and a former mayoral aide. According to a DOJ press release, between April 2020 and January 2022, the defendants participated in an extensive scheme to exploit a federal child nutrition program by laundering millions of dollars intended to reimburse costs for serving meals to children.
The case was part of a broader federal investigation into alleged misuse of funds tied to pandemic-era food assistance programs. The DOJ did not accuse Omar of wrongdoing, but noted that she had past interactions with some individuals involved in the case.
“The defendants exploited changes in the program intended to ensure underserved children received adequate nutrition during the Covid-19 pandemic. Rather than feed children, the defendants took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic—and the resulting program changes—to enrich themselves by fraudulently misappropriating millions of dollars in federal child nutrition program funds,” the DOJ
wrote.
“According to court documents, Abdulkadir Nur Salah was co-owner and operator of Safari Restaurant, a site that received more than $16 million in fraudulent Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. Abdi Nur Salah registered Stigma-Free International, a non-profit entity used to carry out the fraud scheme with sites throughout Minnesota, including in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park, and St. Paul. Abdi Salah also worked for the City of Minneapolis as a Senior Policy Aide to the Mayor,” the department added.
Omar, D-Minn., previously campaigned at Safari Restaurant during her last congressional race. The restaurant also made donations to her campaign, which drew renewed public attention after its co-owner was later convicted in the federal child-nutrition fraud case. Omar has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the scheme.
In a video posted to X, Omar praised Safari Restaurant for its role in providing meals to children, comments made prior to the fraud allegations becoming public.
“I’m very happy to be here at Safari. As everyone knows, our young kids estimated about a number around 20 million, who are school kids, only get their food from school, so we got a chance to create a law called the Meals Act that makes it easy in this time of a pandemic for those kids who aren’t in school, who are at home, don’t starve,” she said.
Between 2021 and 2022, Safari Restaurant contributed approximately $4,700 to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s campaign.
The restaurant is now under federal scrutiny as part of an investigation into an alleged $250 million fraud scheme involving child nutrition funds,
according to the Daily Mail. Prosecutors say the scheme involved claiming reimbursements for meals that were never served and using “ghost” businesses within Minnesota’s Somali community to channel the funds. Omar has not been accused of involvement in or knowledge of the scheme.
The revelations come days after Trump railed against the Somali community and claimed that the U.S. would be “better off” without them. “I don’t want them in our country. Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks. They’re garbage,” the president declared during a Cabinet meeting.
Omar (D-MN) lashed out at President Donald Trump on Wednesday, calling him “creepy” and “obsessed” after his comments.
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Trump went on to link his criticism to recent federal prosecutions in Minnesota, where the Justice Department charged dozens of individuals — many of them Somali nationals — in the $250 million pandemic-era fraud scheme involving a federally funded child-nutrition program.
“When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b—-, we don’t want them in our country,” Trump added. “Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”
