Rubio Iran – Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers during Tuesday testimony that “the war’s over now,” but Sen. Cory Booker immediately countered that “the war is not over,” pointing to continuing costs and unresolved fighting as President Donald Trump faces fresh
When Secretary of State Marco Rubio walked through his testimony on Tuesday, he did not hedge his language about Iran.
“The war’s over now,” Rubio said, delivering what sounded like a final verdict.
Sen. Cory Booker was not having it.
“The war is not over. ” the New Jersey Democrat replied. emphasizing that Americans are “losing at the pump and with their costs” even as the situation remains unresolved. Booker pointed directly to President Donald Trump’s public messaging. describing how Trump repeatedly posts that the United States has “obliterated” and “annihilated” Iran while the conflict continues.
“Every day he tweets out, ‘Oh, we’ve obliterated them, we’ve annihilated them. They’re going to surrender.’ But yet we still find ourselves spending billions of dollars a week,” Booker said.
Rubio stood by his central claim—Booker pressed him again in plain, escalating terms.
Booker: You keep telling us how we’re winning this war.
Rubio: The war is over.
Booker: The war is not over. The American people see how we’re losing at the pump and with their costs, and yet this thing still hasn’t been resolved. Every day he tweets out, oh, we’ve obliterated…
The dispute landed in a moment when the public narrative around the conflict has been moving quickly—sometimes faster than the details seem to catch up.
Rubio’s comments came after he had claimed that “Operation Epic Fury” was “over” early last month. Tuesday’s exchange shows how quickly that framing is colliding with lawmakers’ doubts about what “over” actually means on the ground.
Those questions sit alongside Trump’s own statements about the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday. Trump told ABC News that he expected to have a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz “over the next week.” He said an agreement with Iran could be “even better than a military victory. ” while also warning that reaching a deal was not straightforward.
“You’re talking about a real large country — them — very large country making a deal,” Trump said. “Tremendous hostility, really. So it’s not an easy thing for them. It’s actually not easy from our standpoint, either. But we’re getting what we need to get.”
In the hours after Rubio’s testimony, critics seized on the language as too absolute for a war that still appears to be in flux.
A progressive group, MeidasTouch Network, mocked Rubio’s declaration by comparing it to President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment during the Iraq War. On X. the outlet wrote “Life comes at you fast.” Other users went further. asking why Hormuz remained closed and whether Iran had been told the conflict was over.
The political reaction also carried a darker undertone: social media commentary framed Rubio’s statement as damaging, arguing it could stain his political standing going into the next presidential cycle.
In the middle of all that noise, Booker’s core contention remained steady: if the war is “over,” why are Americans still feeling the costs—and why has the conflict not been resolved in a way both he and Rubio could agree on?
Marco Rubio Cory Booker Iran war Operation Epic Fury Strait of Hormuz Donald Trump ceasefire Congress testimony United States foreign policy gas prices MeidasTouch Network