One day after he was named acting director of the United States Agency for International Development, Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Costa Rica on Tuesday, holding it up as an example of a successful foreign partnership to stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants into the United States.

During a visit to the Central American country, Rubio announced a USAID waiver for Costa Rica, about two weeks after the White House placed a 90-day freeze on foreign aid funding worldwide.

What You Need To Know

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Costa Rica on Tuesday, holding it up as an example of a successful foreign partnership to stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants into the United States

  • Rubio said his department granted a United States Agency for International Development waiver to the Central American ally, two weeks after the White House placed a 90-day freeze on foreign aid funding worldwide

  • Rubio was named acting director of USAID on Monday

  • He said U.S. foreign aid will only be granted in cases that make the country stronger, more prosperous or more secure

“I hope today’s visit is the initial signal that says President Trump will be a friend to allies and will work together with allies, especially with a country like this, which we take as a model that we would like other countries around the world to follow,” Rubio said during a news conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, where he shared the stage with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles. 

Rubio said terrorist drug groups use Costa Rica as a transit point because of its geographic location, so he is looking into a collaboration between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and FBI with Costa Rican law enforcement to investigate drug cases. 

He said the United States is also working with Costa Rica to identify people from countries as far away as Africa who pass through the country on their way to the United States. He praised Costa Rica for its use of biometrics to identify possible terrorists.

“We’ve issued a waiver today because in Costa Rica we have a trusted partner and ally who has proven they have taken aid from the United States to help us stop drugs and criminals,” Rubio said. “This is foreign aid that furthers U.S. interests.”

He defended Trump’s foreign aid funding freeze saying U.S. aid will only be granted in cases that make the country stronger, more prosperous or more secure. 

“I have long supported foreign aid," Rubio said. "I continue to support foreign aid, but it is not charity. It exists for advancing the national interests of the U.S. Every dollar I spend as long as I’m secretary of state will be a dollar that’s advancing our national interests.”

He said the foreign aid funding waivers the Trump administration granted last week are for trusted partners who intercept and stop drugs and terrorists from coming into the U.S. as well as programs that provide life-saving aid, food and medicine. 

Rubio’s Costa Rica visit comes amid efforts to shut down USAID. Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, wrote on X on Sunday that the humanitarian aid agency that has existed since 1961 was “a criminal organization” that should “die.” On Monday, he said President Donald Trump agreed with him that USAID should be shut down.