Following recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Saturday that the global order he grew up in “is gone,” urging American allies to acknowledge this reality and work with Washington to forge a new path forward for the West. “The world is changing very quickly before our eyes,” Rubio said. “The old world is gone, frankly—the world I grew up in—and we now live in a new era of geopolitics. This will require all of us to reassess what that means and the role we will play.” He added that the United States has held numerous private discussions with allies and stressed the importance of continuing those conversations.
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt announced on Saturday that Rubio had notified senior congressional leaders ahead of the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation. Her statement, posted to X, came amid questions about whether President Donald Trump authorized the strikes without proper congressional approval.
“President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar-a-Lago with members of his national security team and spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone,” Leavitt wrote. She noted that prior to the attacks, Rubio briefed members of the so-called “Gang of Eight,” reaching seven of the eight members, and confirmed that the President and his team would continue to monitor developments closely. Leavitt did not indicate whether Trump would return to Washington or remain in Florida.
The 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. According to The Independent, Johnson said, “The Gang of Eight was briefed in detail earlier this week about potential military action against Iran.”
Under the 1947 National Security Act, Congress must be kept “fully informed” of significant intelligence activities. However, experts at the Harvard Kennedy School note that presidents from both parties have often interpreted this requirement to mean briefing the Gang of Eight satisfies the law, rather than notifying the full intelligence committees.
Leavitt’s announcement followed criticism from Representative Thomas Massie.” Massie and Representative Ro Khanna had planned to push a vote next week that would restrict the President’s ability to launch strikes on Iran without formal congressional approval.
In addition, Rubio announced that Iran had been designated a state sponsor of wrongful detention. He cited the 1979 hostage crisis, when Ruhollah Khomeini consolidated power by taking U.S. embassy staff hostage, and pointed to the regime’s continued detention of Americans and other foreign nationals for political leverage.
Rubio emphasized that the practice must end. He noted that last fall, Trump signed an executive order to protect U.S. citizens from wrongful detention abroad, and 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,” Rubio said, adding that such actions could end the designation and associated measures.
Overall, the U.S. is signaling a tougher stance on Iran while emphasizing the need for allies to adapt to a rapidly shifting global order, even as domestic debates over presidential authority and congressional oversight continue.
