Portugal US Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has left Washington on his 31st trip abroad as America’s top diplomat, heading to Uzbekistan and India amid rumblings that he’s ignoring pressing matters in favor of more politically safe visits and meetings. The tour is intended to promote U.S. economic and security ties with Central and South Asia. But it has only tangential links to the Trump administration’s current main foreign policy dilemmas in the Middle East and with the Russia-Ukraine war, a fact that has raised eyebrows in foreign policy circles. Rubio has been unapologetic about his role, describing his trip Saturday as a strategic visit. The State Department is pushing back on any criticism, saying Rubio’s “responsibility is not to generate a public profile around every challenge."