Paris, Nov. 10 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday (local time) defended Secretary of War Pete Hegseth amid a Republican-led impeachment effort against him, saying that Hegseth had executed direct orders from President Donald Trump and that the US military operations in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela had been carried out effectively.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Paris, France, Rubio defended the Trump administration's national security operations, arguing that they were necessary to address threats to the United States.

"So, as I said, on all those things, not only did Pete execute on a direct order from the Commander-in-Chief, who under our Constitution is empowered and trusted wi...