Firing Rubio? Trump’s Got Jokes, and He’s Having a Darn Good Time.
by Sarah Anderson
President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday morning, surrounded by members of his own cabinet, like JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Susie Wiles, and dozens of foreign heads of state and other dignitaries.
While the subject at hand — peace in the Middle East, particularly in Gaza — was of a serious nature, the fact is that it almost felt more like some of the most important men in the world had gathered for a party. Trump was playing music and cracking jokes. There were smiles all around. Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, even tried to get Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to join him while singing along to Elvis. It was the international karaoke moment we didn’t know we needed.
🚨SHOCKING:
Milei and Orbán Share a Moment at the 'Board of Peace' Conference.
Hungary-Argentina Friendship Begins! 🇭🇺🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/WkCtdgFY6Z
— Based Hungary 🇭🇺 (@HungaryBased) February 19, 2026
The meeting was a momentous occasion that, as Marco Rubio said at the event, “the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has both an ability and a willingness to use the power of his office to think outside the box.”
He’s right, and Trump is having fun doing it.
I’m going to stop right here and tell you that I’ve been sick for the last 48 or so hours — some kind of virus or mild flu or something — but aside from a little two-hour spurt I had on Wednesday night to do Venezuelan and Cuban updates, I’ve pretty much been in bed, which means that. unlike most days, I’ve been more of a consumer of the news than one who reports it.
And let me just tell you that the one thing that has stood out to me more than anything is that our president is having a darn good time leading this country.
While the Democrats wallow in their endless cycle of bitterness and hate and gloom and doom, Trump is embracing the presidency with unbridled joy and a celebration of the American spirit and the American people, whether it’s a cultural moment, a major foreign policy event, or a little grassroots visit to a town in Georgia.
During that Board of Peace meeting, he spoke and made quite a few jokes. The funniest was the one about firing Rubio because he did such a good job giving his speech in Munich over the weekend.
“Marco does it with a velvet glove, but it’s a kill,” the president said on Thursday morning. He added, “Marco, you really did yourself proud two days ago in Munich, in fact, so proud that I almost terminated his employee. Because they were saying, ‘Why can’t Trump do this?’ I do, but I say it differently. But Marco, don’t do any better than you did, please, because if you do you’re out of here.”
It’s worth watching just to see the look on Rubio’s face:
The look on Marco Rubio’s face while Trump brings up his Munich speech is PRICELESS.
This is awesome.
“He does it with a velvet glove…” pic.twitter.com/xdfVIQjA6x
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 19, 2026