AKP Phnom Penh, January 22, 2025--
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the United States will seek to prevent and avoid conflict, but never at the expense of its national security, interests and core values, as the former Florida senator took office to lead the State Department.

Rubio made the remarks during a welcoming ceremony at the department, noting that President Donald Trump's "overriding" global policy goal is to promote peace and avoid conflict, while underlining Trump's foreign policy mission to advance American interests.

"We recognize that there will be those times ... unfortunately as humans interact with one another because of our nature, there will be conflict," he said.
"We will seek to prevent them and avoid them, but never at the expense of our national security, never at the expense of our national interests and never at the expense of our core values as a nation and as a people," he added.
During his inaugural address on Monday, Trump signaled an apparent intent to refrain from military involvement in conflicts overseas, saying that his administration will measure its success "not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into."
Rubio pointed out that throughout Trump's election campaign, the advancement of American interests has been defined as "anything that makes us stronger, safer or more prosperous."
"That will be our mission. Our job across the world is to ensure that we have a foreign policy that advances the national interest of the United States," he said.
"I expect every nation on earth to advance their national interests, and in those instances, I hope there will be many in which our national interest and theirs align. We look forward to working with them."
At the White House earlier in the day, Rubio was sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance. The ceremony came a day after the Senate confirmed him as America's chief diplomat, making Rubio the Trump administration's first Cabinet-level official approved by the upper chamber.
"His primary promise, when it comes to foreign policy, is that the priority of the U.S. Department of State will be the United States. It will be furthering the national interest of this country," Rubio said at the ceremony, referring to Trump's election pledge.
During his recent Senate confirmation hearing, Rubio noted the need for Washington to take a "serious" look at North Korea policy to explore how to lower the risk of "inadvertent" war between the two Koreas and prevent a crisis on the Korean Peninsula without encouraging countries to seek their own nuclear arms.
In November, Trump nominated Rubio, calling him a "strong advocate for our nation" and a "true friend to our allies."
Born in 1971 as the son of two Cuban immigrants, he graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School. Rubio served as a city commissioner in West Miami and speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He had served as a senator for Florida since 2011.

AKP-Yonhap