Rubio Pitches the F-35 in Lisbon but Signs Nothing, as Portugal's Fighter Choice and the Lajes Inquiry Stay Open

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent Thursday 8 October in Lisbon, his first visit to Portugal and the last stop of a tour that took in Iceland and Greece. He met Prime Minister Luís Montenegro at the Palácio de São Bento (the prime minister's official residence) and then Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel at the Palácio das Necessidades (the Foreign Ministry), where the two held a joint press conference.

No agreement was signed or announced. The State Department's readout lists thanks for Portugal's "steadfast support to U.S. forces", defence-industrial cooperation, trade and investment through a U.S.-Portugal CEO Forum, and joint work on the UN Security Council, where Portugal sits in 2027 and 2028.

The fighter jet decision is still Portugal's to make

The Air Force has to replace its ageing F-16s. Lusa reports four contenders: Lockheed Martin's F-35, Saab's Gripen E, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault's Rafale. The replacement is expected in a new Lei de Programação Militar (Military Programming Law) due in parliament this year, the armed forces chief told Lusa in September.

Rubio made a direct pitch. "We think you should buy the F-35 because we think it is the best fighter in the world," he said, Lusa reported, adding that the choice is the government's and the US only wants "a fair opportunity" to present its offer. Rangel said the decision "has not yet been taken", that the Defence Ministry is leading the process, and that "the Portuguese state will always decide according to the national interest."

The same morning, President António José Seguro, who was not on Rubio's published schedule, argued at a Lisbon conference at the Gulbenkian Foundation that Europe gains little from spending more on defence "if it goes and buys technology outside Europe itself". He suggested European countries agree on whether they need two or three different aircraft models.

Lajes: protocols, not the inquiry

Rubio would not comment on the criminal inquiry the Ministério Público (Public Prosecution Service) opened last week into US use of the Lajes base in the Azores during the war on Iran, which followed a complaint by the Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc). "We have protocols that define our presence and we always respect them," he said. "We would never violate the sovereignty of any country." Asked about Amnesty International's call for Portugal to refuse the base for operations against Iran, he called the group "a fraud".

Rangel said the future of Lajes "was not on the menu" and that any such question goes first to the permanent Portugal and US bilateral commission, the body that oversees the agreement that governs the base.

Trade, technology and the American community

Rubio called Portugal the "ideal gateway, geographically and economically" for American technology companies in Europe, citing subsea cables and data centres, ECO and DN reported. He put US investment in Portugal last year at more than 20 billion dollars, a figure he did not break down. Rangel said US visitors brought in almost 11 percent of tourism revenue in 2025. Montenegro said on Wednesday that more than 21,000 Americans hold residence in Portugal.

Rubio also warned that it is "not good" for any country to depend on China.

The protest

About 300 people gathered in Lisbon's Largo de São Domingos on Wednesday evening under the slogan "No to Marco Rubio's presence in Portugal", Lusa reported. The protest was organised by the Conselho Português para a Paz e Cooperação (Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation). About 25 PSP (Public Security Police) officers separated it from a small pro-Israel group, and it ended without incident. The PCP (Portuguese Communist Party) said Rubio was "not welcome".

What comes next: the new military programming bill should show which jets the Government favours, and the prosecutors' Lajes inquiry continues.