A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, August 17, 2025 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the premise of this question from CBS "Face The Nation" host Margaret Brennan about Trump's meetings last week with Vladimir Putin and next week with Volodymyr Zelensky: Brennan asked: "You know,

Marco Rubio torched what he called a "stupid media narrative" as he was confronted him on "concerns" that Zelensky will be "bullied" into a Russia deal.

SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO, FORMER BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JAKE SULLIVAN & SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, SUNDAY ON “THIS WEEK” WITH CO-ANCHOR MARTHA RADDATZ

Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disputes Secretary of State Marco Rubio's characterization that continuing negotiations with Russian President Putin are a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Rubio replied that the “goal here” is to reach a “peace agreement,” rather than “to stage some production for the world and say, ‘Oh how dramatic. [Trump] walked out.” Enough progress was made, Rubio insisted, to continue moving toward an agreement (though he elided Trump’s newfound embrace of a peace agreement instead of a ceasefire).

Two key figures, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, appear to be the front-runners. Trump himself suggested that Vance is the "likely" candidate to succeed him, while also leaving open the possibility of a Vance-Rubio joint ticket.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) has asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to clarify comments he made on a radio show earlier this week, where he appeared to threaten the domestic non-profit group with a terror designation for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.