ABC News (US)
· collected 2026-10-08 · by MATTHEW LEE Associated Press, BARRY HATTON Associated Press
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Portugal as part of his tour of NATO allies, praising Portugal as a cooperative ally that supports U.S. military operations. During the visit, Rubio thanked Portuguese officials for allowing the use of Lajes Field air base in Azores, which is crucial for military refueling flights despite some political opposition within Portugal over its legality. The trip aimed to strengthen ties between the two nations and reinforce mutual support as NATO members.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Lisbon as part of his tour of NATO allies, emphasizing strong ties with Portugal and thanking officials for their support in the Iran war by allowing the U.S. to use the Lajes Field air base located on the Azores islands. This strategic location facilitates military refueling flights. Unlike Spain, which denied access to its bases for operations against Iran, Portugal's center-right government provided conditional approval for Lajes Field usage. Rubio praised Portugal as a "great ally," reflecting the importance of such partnerships in NATO and regional security dynamics.
Written for “Rubio Visit Portugal Alliance” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 66504: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-08
Rubio visits Portugal, praising a 'great ally' and looking to build deeper ties
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Portugal, wrapping up a tour of NATO allies
LISBON, Portugal --
asserted
Rubio → visit → allies
Rubio arrived in Lisbon on Thursday for a brief stop on his return to Washington, a day after delivering a speech in the Greek capital of Athens urging European countries to save Western civilization by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.
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Rubio → arrive → Greece
Rubio, who began his trip in Iceland, is expected to thank Portuguese officials for supporting U.S. operations in the Iran war by allowing the U.S. to use the Lajes Field air base in Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores islands, which is strategically located for military refueling flights.
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which → begin → flights
The U.S. Air Force has long had a base there under an agreement with Portugal.
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Force → have → Portugal
Unlike neighboring Spain, where Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez refused to allow the American military to use Spanish bases to stage operations for attacks on Iran, Portugal’s center-right government granted Washington “conditional approval” to use Lajes Field.
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government → neighbor → Field
“Portugal is a great ally, very cooperative ally of the United States and a country with which we already have a solid and growing relationship.
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we → have → relationship
And we visit these countries in order to reinforce those ties,” Rubio said before departing Athens.
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Rubio → visit → Athens
“That’s the purpose of the trip.”
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That → ’ → trip
Spain’s position infuriated President Donald Trump, who has fumed publicly on numerous occasions about its government and other European countries he deems insufficiently supportive of his administration’s policies.
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he → infuriate → policies
Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said the approval didn’t include hostile actions that go against international law.
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that → say → law
Members of the government said Portugal was performing the duties of a U.S. ally.
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Portugal → say → ally
Rubio met first with Prime Minister Luis Montenegro at the São Bento palace.
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Rubio → meet → palace
Neither of them offered comments to the media.
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Neither → offer → media
Some Portuguese political parties balked at the move.
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parties → balk → move
Following a formal complaint by a small left-wing political party called Left Bloc, the country’s attorney general’s office said last week it is looking into whether the use of the Lajes Field base was lawful.
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use → follow → base
As one of the smallest members of NATO and the European Union, Portugal is keen to cultivate its relations with bigger countries.
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Portugal → cultivate → countries
Portugal, a country of fewer than 11 million people, spends just over 2% of its GDP on defense, according to NATO.
uncertain
Portugal → spend → NATO
The government says it plans to increase defense spending to around 3%, including dual-use investments in civilian infrastructure.
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it → say → infrastructure
Portugal has around 25,000 military personnel, the alliance says.
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alliance → have → personnel
“I’m asking our allies to be strong,” Rubio said in Greece.
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Rubio → ask → Greece
“We want a strong Europe.”
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We → want → Europe
Lajes Field was first used by the United States in World War II.
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Field → use → II
After the war, Lisbon and Washington signed a formal agreement for the Air Force's use of the base, which has a long runway to cater for heavy military aircraft.
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which → sign → aircraft
The base was scaled back after the end of the Cold War and now mostly handles the refueling of trans-Atlantic military flights.
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base → scale → flights
A previous Portuguese center-right government also supported U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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government → support → Afghanistan
The Aporia
