France-bound Rubio to face questions on Trump

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first international trip this weekend after the midterm elections dealt Republicans a severe blow and raised questions about how the Trump administration's policies like the Iran war helped Democrats seize control of Congress.

The State Department said Friday that Rubio would leave this weekend to attend a Group of 7 (G7) foreign ministers meeting in France.

He will have plenty of opportunities to explain whether President Donald Trump will adjust his often-aggressive approach to both allies and foes in the aftermath of massive Republican losses in Tuesday's vote.

In a terse statement, the department said Rubio would use the meeting to "advance American interests in engagements with his G7 counterparts."

The top US diplomat is seen by many as presenting a gentler side to Trump's approach, but there has been speculation -- that he and aides have vehemently denied -- that he might choose to leave the administration early to prepare for a 2028 presidential run.

The G7 meetings on Monday and Tuesday follow a larger diplomatic gathering that Rubio hosted in Atlanta just last weekend for G20 foreign ministers -- a meeting that produced little in the way of consensus on any of the major issues the world is confronting. The Atlanta meeting, which included Russia and China, ended without a joint communique and instead a chairman's statement from Rubio.

The G7, which comprises the world's biggest industrialised democracies rather than the 20 largest global economies, is made up entirely of US allies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Yet the differences that prevented broad agreements in Atlanta will likely again confound top diplomats in Paris, especially on global security.

In Paris, the foreign ministers will again confront a number of unresolved world crises, including the Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars as well as deteriorating energy and food security. Already the French have signaled that this meeting also will not produce a joint communique.

The French hosts, who have invited Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine to participate in some of the discussions, have numerous priorities, including Ukraine, Iran and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea.

The French also are looking to address broader West Asia -- including Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria -- Africa, the Indo-Pacific and China, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti.

They also will convene a meeting on artificial intelligence and a separate session on support for Ukraine, according to the French foreign ministry.

Trump and his administration have rattled the nerves of its G7 partners on issues like support for Ukraine, NATO and defense spending as well as trade and tariffs, the Iran war and opposition to the International Criminal Court. All of the G7 members -- except Japan, which has a separate treaty alliance with the US -- are in NATO.

To the consternation of Europe, Trump has scaled back US military assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia and repeatedly suggested that America might not come to the defense of another NATO member under attack unless all allies step up their defense spending.

He also has proposed reducing the US military footprint in Europe, which has been a constant reassurance for the continent since World War II.

The American military presence also plays a role in the administration's battle to dismantle the ICC, the world's first war crimes tribunal to which all G7 members but the US belong. The Trump administration has imposed severe sanctions on the ICC and a number of its employees, while next year it could add penalties on governments, companies and individuals that do business with the court.

The European Union is considering what's called a "blocking statute" that would protect EU institutions from US secondary sanctions. It's a step the Trump administration has said would be hostile and have potential consequences for relations with the United States.