A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs left the Trump administration upset, choosing to remain silent
The American government was uncomfortable with the Portuguese government’s reaction to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statements, CNN Portugal found.
According to a diplomatic source, the Americans even prepared a comment on Rubio’s statements, not to say that he was wrong, but to reframe what had been said by the government official.
However, the reaction of the Portuguese Executive, which denied Rubio’s words, left the American government upset, and the Trump administration chose to remain silent.
Contacted by CNN Portugal, the US State Department declined to comment.
What happened
This week, Rubio said that Portugal gave authorization for the use of the Lajes Base before even knowing what the request was.
“To be fair, there are NATO countries that have been very helpful to us. I’ll just say one: Portugal. They said yes before we even asked anything,” the American official said.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied Rubio.
“As was explained publicly and in detail to the Foreign Affairs Commission (on April 7), the request to Portugal to use the Lajes Base was only made after the attack on Iran, and the Portuguese Government only authorized it under conditions that were immediately made public and are known”, the Government began by explaining.
“The statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio does not apply to Portugal at all and we do not know if it applies to any of the other countries he referred to”, can be read in the note sent by Paulo Rangel’s ministry.
