Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the day of a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Recent claims from the Trump administration that they are fighting to preserve Western civilization are proving too much even for some conservatives to stomach, with one prominent New York Times columnist arguing that they need a lesson in "humility, decency, and honesty" before they defend anything.
Writing in his latest piece for the Times on Tuesday morning, conservative commentator Bret Stephens highlighted Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent speech near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, "championing the virtues of Western civilization" and pledging to defend it "with the same passion as our forefathers did." This, Stephens suggested further, contrasts uncomfortably with other developments out of the administration in the last week.
"The same week, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, announced that the Pentagon would livestream the execution of the Fort Hood killer," President Trump decided to buy diesel fuel directly from Russia, potentially amounting to billions in funding for Vladimir Putin’s war machine. And The Wall Street Journal reported that Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, is under investigation by the State Department’s inspector general for receiving improper gifts in exchange for political and business favors.
He added: "Is this what the secretary of state meant by Western civilization?"
For his part, Stephens argued that most people ought to "celebrate, defend and perpetuate Western civilization." Actually doing so, however, "requires a basic understanding of what Western civilization is," and President Donald Trump and his followers could use a refresher course.
Stephens argued further that "Western Civilization," as an intellectual framework, rests on "three pillars": a "quest for truth," the belief in "the worth and dignity of every human being" and "the rule of law." The Trump administration, he suggested, embodies these rules less and less, and is more in line with "Mexico City in the 1970s and ’80s," when he was growing up there.
"Whatever else that was, and is, it does not meet the basic tests of Western civilization," Stephens wrote. "Nor do cage matches on the White House lawn; big cans of whoop ass unloaded on longstanding allies; tornadoes of mendacity from the president’s mouth; political purges among uniformed military officers; casual conspiracy theories from the vice presidentthe vice president about Jews, municipal elections and space aliens; assaults on elementary science from the head of the public health bureaucracy; performative toadyism by nearly every appointed or elected Republican official; unceasing efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of past elections and corrupt future ones; the Trump family’s contempt for public ethics; the indecent and inhuman tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the dizzying kaleidoscope of incompetence, inattention, bullying and sheer weirdness that typifies nearly every waking moment in this presidency."
He concluded: "Asked what he thought of Western civilization, Mohandas Gandhi is said to have quipped, 'I think it would be a good idea.' It would be a good idea, too, if the Trump administration knew what it was talking about when it talked about that same civilization."