Matthew Lee

Stay informed with Matthew Lee’s coverage and analysis for Fortune.

Costco

Trump’s plan to hit Iranian diplomats where it hurts during UN visit: Banning them from Costco and Sam’s Club

By Matthew Lee and The Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he boards his flight before departing from Subang Air Base, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on Friday, July 11, 2025, after attending the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)

Days after Supreme Court go-ahead, State Department fires over 1,300 employees

By Matthew Lee and The Associated Press

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Rubio meets China’s foreign minister in Malaysia as U.S.-Chinese tensions grow over trade and security

By Matthew Lee and The Associated Press

Marco Rubio

State Department warns diplomats of AI impostor posing as Marco Rubio

By Matthew Lee and The Associated Press

FILE – Chinese students wait outside the U.S. Embassy for their visa application interviews, in Beijing on May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan, File)

State Department restarts foreign student visa process but applicants will now have to unlock their social media accounts for review

By Matthew Lee, Alice Zhang, and others

Afrikaner refugees from South Africa holding American flags arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Trump says administration welcomed 59 white South Africans as refugees because of ‘genocide that’s taking place’

By Matthew Lee, Rebecca Santana, and others

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington, as President Donald Trump look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secretary of State Rubio now has double role as he takes over Walz’s old job as national security adviser

By Matthew Lee, Farnoush Amiri, and others

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio unveils massive State Department overhaul that includes a 15% staff cut and the closure of 100 bureaus worldwide

By Farnoush Amiri, Matthew Lee, and others

WASHINGTON, DC UNITED STATES- MARCH 14: The exterior of the State Department complex is seen on March 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s 28-year-old DOGE lieutenant dismantled USAID. Now it’s taking place at the State Department

By Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Lee, and others

FILE – Right-wing activist Laura Loomer speaks in front of the courthouse where the hush-money trial of Donald Trump is underway, April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Trump fires NSC officials day after far-right activist Laura Loomer raises concerns about their loyalty in Oval Office meeting

By Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, and others

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 24, 2025. US President Donald Trump reiterated his call for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, as he continues to push the central bank on monetary policy. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What degree of power will America command in NATO? Europe warily awaits U.S. secretary Marco Rubio to determine the future of the alliance

By Matthew Lee, Lorne Cook, and others

Elon Musk speaks during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Federal workers start to get a new email demanding their accomplishments

By Chris Megerian, Adriana Gomez Licon, and others

Demonstrators protest against cuts to American foreign aid spending, including USAID and the PEPFAR program to combat HIV/AIDS, at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump administration blames ‘institutional drift’ as it plans to cut over 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts

By Ellen Knickmeyer, Mark Sherman, and others

FILE – President-elect Donal Trump looks at France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Notre Dame Cathedral, Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File)

French and U.K. leaders visit Trump in White House as Europe worries about U.S. ties to EU and Ukraine

By Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, and others

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make a joint statement to the media at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on February 16, 2025. Rubio said Palestinian militant group Hamas “must be eliminated”, after meeting on February 16 with Israel’s prime minister. (Photo by Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP) (Photo by OHAD ZWIGENBERG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s Netanyahu calls Trump proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza ‘the only viable plan to enable a different future’

By Matthew Lee, Natalie Melzer, and others