Marco Rubio said Iran would be ‘much different country’ if it spent money on people instead of weapons

In late March 2026, social media users claimed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during an interview that Iran would be a “different country” if it spent billions of dollars “on its people instead of weapons.”

The rumor circulated amid the United States and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran.

Users on social media platforms like Facebook (archived) shared a video that appeared to show Rubio saying, “Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars, supporting terrorists or weapons, had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you’d have a much different country.” 

Snopes readers asked us to verify the quote’s authenticity. 

The quote is correctly attributed to Rubio. He made the comments during an appearance on “Good Morning America” on March 29, 2026, to discuss the United States and Israel’s war with Iran. The segment is available to watch on ABC News’ YouTube page.

The comment in question appears around the 4:46 timestamp in the YouTube clip embedded below. 

Rubio was responding to host George Stephanopoulos’ question related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that the U.S. was engaging in talks with a “new” and “more reasonable” regime in Iran following the death of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. While Trump asserted that a “regime change” had occurred in Iran, experts cited by NBC News maintained there’s no evidence the country’s government lost its grip on power.

Below is a transcript of the full exchange between Stephanopoulos and Rubio (emphasis ours): 

Stephanopoulos: You call them “lunatics” but the president just had this post where he says we’re in discussions with a new and more reasonable regime. Let me try to pin you down on that. Who is this new and more reasonable regime and is the United States in direct contact with them?

Rubio: Well, I’m not going to disclose who those people are because it probably would get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran. Look, there’s some fractures going on there internally. And at the end of the day, I think there are people who now, given everything that’s happened, are willing to move in a different direction for their country. That would be great.

Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars, supporting terrorists or weapons, had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you’d have a much different country. So we’re always hopeful that that would exist over there. It’s unfortunate. The people of Iran are incredible people. The people who lead them, this clerical regime, that is the problem. If there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future, that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world. But we also have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not the case.

Snopes reached out to Rubio for his response to those who have been critical of his statement after it circulated online. We will update this article if we receive a response.