From his vantage point on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.) has a front-row seat to the world’s hotspots. In his latest interview with the Washington Reporter, he explained why he trusts President Donald Trump to negotiate a deal — or to walk away from a possible deal — with Iran, why he trusts Poland over Spain, Turkey, and the “United Islamic Kingdom” with American F-35s, what’s next for Cuba, and more.
Fine told the Reporter that he is in “close contact with the White House” as Trump tries to close in on a deal with Iran. Fine is “very confident we will sign an America First deal, if we sign a deal at all.” In his analysis of the negotiations, he sees “only three meaningful components to an America First deal, not a world first deal, not an Iran first deal, but an America First deal.”
“Number one, no nuclear weapons program,” he said. “Number two, no intercontinental ballistic missile program, aka a missile that could hit the United States, and three, and open and free Strait of Hormuz. Those are the three things the United States needs, and that’s what I believe will be in any deal.”
Within the Middle East, noted that while he supports Israel’s ongoing stikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, those strikes are “not the United States dealing with Hezbollah.”
“Israel’s a sovereign country,” he said. “Israel needs to protect Israel, and when you have Muslim terrorists attacking Israel, Israel is going to respond, and I support them in doing that.” He also dismissed reports of influence by groups like the American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL), whose extensive ties to former Vice President Kamala Harris have been covered by the Reporter.
“I think the president’s fine listening to a wide array of people,” Fine said of ATFL’s attempts to sway the White House on Lebanon policy. “He’s obviously making the right choice here consistently. We want a good relationship with Lebanon. The problem is Lebanon is not controlled by the Lebanese. Lebanon is controlled by this Muslim terror organization, Hezbollah, and that’s the fundamental problem.”
Fine also wants zero dollars sent via either the Board of Peace or any other mechanism to Gaza as long as Hamas remains in charge and has not disarmed. “No, no, no,” he said.
“As long as Muslim terrorists are in charge of Gaza, then we should not be assisting them.” One country that he’d like to see bear more responsibility for Gaza is Egypt. “What should be clearly noted is that Egypt is blockading the Gaza Arabs,” he said. “One of the big lies about this all along is that Israel had cut off Gaza, and it’s false. Gaza is bordered by two places, Israel and Egypt, as well as the Mediterranean. And Egypt wants those people even less than Israel does.”
Outside of the Middle East, another country that Fine has focused on recently is Poland; Trump recently strengthened U.S.-Polish relations in a number of ways, including by sending F-35 jets and by announcing plans to send thousands of American troops to the country. Fine sees Poland as a model that the rest of Europe should follow.
“We have great admiration in how Poland has chosen to stand up against mainstream Islam,” he said. “They’re one of the few countries in Europe that has not allowed themselves to be invaded and had their society destroyed. You can look at it in the rape statistics. We should be aligning ourselves more with Poland and less with Spain, for example, which has opened its arms to mass mainstream Islam and subjugation to it. I’m a big fan of what they’ve been doing in Poland.”
When it comes to technology like F-35s, Fine noted that “Poland seems to be a country that has aligned itself with American values, preserving Western civilization. I would much rather Poland have F-35 than Spain, than the United Islamic Kingdom, or Turkey.”
Closer to Fine’s home state of Florida, he noted that Cuba is “a failed state. It’s a failed economy, one that has not been able to survive on its own for decades, it requires subsidies from similarly situated regimes to exist, the most recent being Venezuela.” The Trump administration — led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — has ramped up its pressure on Cuba in recent days. “The hope,” Fine said, “is as they’re no longer subsidized, they will choose to become a self-sustaining economy by becoming part of a West.”
But Cuba’s communist regime is not going down without a fight. It recently helped bring left-wing influences, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, to Cuba; the Treasury Department announced that an investigation into that trip, and Fine said that “it sounds as though he engaged in criminal activity. I hope that he’s held responsible.”
“If he broke the law by breaking the Cuban embargo, he should go to jail,” Fine said. “Look, terrorists are going to terrorist. When Muslim terrorists and communist terrorists work together, sorry I’m not surprised.”
What Fine really wants is for Piker to be “deported to Turkey. He’s a walking billboard for the problems with birth tourism. He’s a birth tourist kid. His parents came from Turkey, had him in the United States, and then immediately took him back to Turkey, where he grew up. He’s a paperwork American, but he’s not a real American. He doesn’t share our values, he doesn’t love our country, and he is why we’ve got to eliminate this birthright tourism plague that exists in this country.”
When it comes to domestic policy, Fine’s top priority is getting the Save America Act passed. He noted that he has been “voting against every Senate bill that’s come over. There were a couple I voted against last week. There seems to be somewhere between five and ten of us who have taken that position. I will continue to do that; they’d better hope there’s not a party-line bill coming from the Senate where they need my vote.”
“The president is asking us to staple it to all bills that we send to the Senate,” Fine added. “That’s an option, but we don’t have open rules in the House, so that would require the Rules Committee to allow an amendment like that to be voted on on the floor.”
Another high-profile Fine move has been his push to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) from Congress, which he conceded will be difficult. “The challenge about expelling her is that one-third of the Democratic members would have to support it. I think that’s going to be a very heavy bar,” he said.
The investigation itself remains ongoing, he added. “We’re waiting for the final evidence to come in on the citizenship fraud and/or welfare fraud. Obviously, they’re already looking into financial disclosure fraud.”
Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.), lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Congressman Fine, what is the latest with the Save America Act?
Rep. Randy Fine:
Look, I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing, which is voting against every Senate bill that’s come over. There were a couple I voted against last week. There seems to be somewhere between five and ten of us who have taken that position. I will continue to do that; they’d better hope there’s not a party-line bill coming from the Senate where they need my vote. That’s one thing I’ve done. The president is asking us to staple it to all bills that we send to the Senate. That’s an option, but we don’t have open rules in the House, so that would require the Rules Committee to allow an amendment like that to be voted on on the floor.
Washington Reporter:
Another thing you’ve been working on is your push to expel Ilhan Omar from Congress. What is the latest with that?
Rep. Randy Fine:
We’re waiting for the final evidence to come in on the citizenship fraud and/or welfare fraud. Obviously, they’re already looking into financial disclosure fraud. The challenge about expelling her is that one-third of the Democratic members would have to support it. I think that’s going to be a very heavy bar.
Washington Reporter:
In that vein, we saw the Treasury Department investigating Hasan Piker. What do you think about that?
Rep. Randy Fine:
It sounds as though he engaged in criminal activity. I hope that he’s held responsible. He really should be deported to Turkey. He’s a walking billboard for the problems with birth tourism. He’s a birth tourist kid. His parents came from Turkey, had him in the United States, and then immediately took him back to Turkey, where he grew up. He’s a paperwork American, but he’s not a real American. He doesn’t share our values, he doesn’t love our country, and he is why we’ve got to eliminate this birthright tourism plague that exists in this country.
Washington Reporter:
What do you think, of the Trump administration’s investigations into him about his trip to Cuba?
Rep. Randy Fine:
If he broke the law by breaking the Cuban embargo, he should go to jail. Look, terrorists are going to terrorist. When Muslim terrorists and communist terrorists work together, sorry I’m not surprised.
Washington Reporter:
What is your sense of what’s coming next for Cuba with the Trump administration still putting pressure on the communist dictatorship there?
Rep. Randy Fine:
It’s a failed state, it’s a failed economy, one that has not been able to survive on its own for decades, it requires subsidies from similarly situated regimes to exist, the most recent being Venezuela. The hope is as they’re no longer subsidized, they will choose to become a self-sustaining economy by becoming part of a West.
Washington Reporter:
Shifting hemispheres to the Middle East, what do you make of the latest round of negotiations and bombings of Iran by the Trump administration?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I’ve been in close contact with the White House. I’m very confident we will sign an America First deal, if we sign a deal at all. There are only three meaningful components to an America First deal, not a world first deal, not an Iran first deal, but an America First deal. Number one, no nuclear weapons program. Number two, no intercontinental ballistic missile program, aka a missile that could hit the United States, and three, and open and free Strait of Hormuz. Those are the three things the United States needs, and that’s what I believe will be in any deal.
Washington Reporter:
As these negotiations have been going on, we’ve seen Israel ramp up its strikes in Lebanon. What do you make of what’s been going on there?
Rep. Randy Fine:
Israel’s a sovereign country. Israel needs to protect Israel, and when you have Muslim terrorists attacking Israel, Israel is going to respond, and I support them in doing that, but Israel dealing with Hezbollah is Israel dealing with Hezbollah, not the United States dealing with Hezbollah.
Washington Reporter:
Lebanon is clearly in the news lately, and one of the groups trying to weigh in on policy is run by a Kamala Harris donor, Ed Gabriel, called the American Task Force on Lebanon. Israel has been doing these strikes. The group seems to think that it has potential sway with the White House. Do you think that Trump should be listening to organizations run by Harris donors, especially on Middle East policy?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I think the president’s fine listening to a wide array of people. He’s obviously making the right choice here consistently. We want a good relationship with Lebanon. The problem is Lebanon is not controlled by the Lebanese. Lebanon is controlled by this Muslim terror organization, Hezbollah, and that’s the fundamental problem.
Washington Reporter:
Another area that America and Israel have been working jointly together on is what comes next for Gaza. Trump has talked about the Gaza Riviera. There is ostensibly work by the Board of Peace that he created in what the aftermath of Gaza should look like. Do you think that that organization or the United States specifically should provide aid to Gaza if, as we’re still seeing, Hamas is not fully disarmed?
Rep. Randy Fine:
No, no, no. As long as Muslim terrorists are in charge of Gaza, then we should not be assisting them.
Washington Reporter:
Do you think that Egypt should be required to open up its borders to allow Gazans to go into Egypt?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I don’t think they should, but if I wouldn’t want terrorists in my country. What should be clearly noted is that Egypt is blockading the Gaza Arabs. One of the big lies about this all along is that Israel had cut off Gaza, and it’s false. Gaza is bordered by two places, Israel and Egypt, as well as the Mediterranean. And Egypt wants those people even less than Israel does.
Washington Reporter:
On the note of borders, I was just in Poland on a trip that is Ministry of Foreign Affairs did for journalists, and we went to their border with Belarus, which they have secured. Now, they have been focused on what America’s troop positioning looks like there. President Trump made a decision to send 5,000 troops to Poland; how do you see that decision impacting America in Eastern Europe?
Rep. Randy Fine:
We have great admiration in how Poland has chosen to stand up against mainstream Islam; they’re one of the few countries in Europe that has not allowed themselves to be invaded and had their society destroyed. You can look at it in the rape statistics. We should be aligning ourselves more with Poland and less with Spain, for example, which has opened its arms to mass mainstream Islam and subjugation to it. I’m a big fan of what they’ve been doing in Poland.
Washington Reporter:
Poland just received F-35s from President Trump. Do you have any thoughts on the decision to ultimately send those planes over there?
Rep. Randy Fine:
Poland seems to be a country that has aligned itself with American values, preserving Western civilization. I would much rather Poland have F-35 than Spain, than the United Islamic Kingdom, or Turkey.
Washington Reporter:
Congressman Fine, thanks as always for your time.
