By A high-ranking member of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s security team was taken into custody by Belgian police last Monday night following a disturbance at a luxury hotel in Brussels, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
The altercation occurred at Hotel Amigo, an upscale hotel where Secretary Rubio was scheduled to stay later that week for the NATO foreign ministers meeting. The individual involved, a shift supervisor with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), was part of the advance team responsible for organizing security and logistics for the visit, wrote The Washington Examiner.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Washington Examiner that the agent in question was behaving erratically and became irate when hotel staff refused to reopen the bar beyond its normal hours. When staff, including the night manager, attempted to persuade the agent to return to his room, the agent became physically aggressive. Police were then called. The agent engaged in an altercation with numerous police officers, leading to his arrest. The agent was released from police custody later that day after intervention by the U.S. Embassy.
Four sources told the Washington Examiner that Rubio’s protective detail is under severe strain and has been stretched to a near-breaking point by senior leadership. One source provided explicit examples of how resource stretches have led to vulnerabilities in protection. One State Department employee observed that “shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload. They are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work. They work 6 to 7 days a week. I truly believe this [incident] was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [Diplomatic Security Service] owes [the agent] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality – looking deep into [DSS’s] own role [in what happened].”
A State Department spokesman told the Washington Examiner, “The Diplomatic Security Service is aware of allegations of an incident involving an employee in Brussels, Belgium on March 31, 2025. While we don’t discuss specific personnel matters, the allegations are being examined.” The Belgian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to a request for comment. Brussels police initially said, “Are you requesting confirmation of the arrest? Please note that we cannot provide details about the circumstances,” but failed to respond to follow-up inquiries. The Hotel Amigo and its ownership did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
DSS is responsible for protecting American diplomats and diplomatic compounds around the world and investigating crimes such as passport and visa fraud. But while once regarded as a highly prestigious law enforcement agency, DSS has suffered several embarrassments in recent years.
The incident has raised concerns about the conditions within the State Department’s security ranks. Four individuals familiar with the matter pointed to rising stress and fatigue within Rubio’s security detail, citing long hours, constant travel, and leadership challenges as contributing factors.
A group of current and former Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agents previously told the Washington Examiner that the agency is in crisis due to chronic mismanagement, poor morale, and a dysfunctional leadership and promotion culture. They reported a collapse in criminal investigations—highlighting that DSS’s New York office made no arrests in 2022—and said the agency’s protective mission has become overextended, particularly amid heightened threats against officials like Mike Pompeo. Leadership is accused of absenteeism, unethical conduct, and prioritizing personal relationships over competence in promotions. Protective operations are plagued by inflexibility, resource strain, and internal resentment. The agents warned that unless serious reforms are made, DSS risks another disaster akin to Benghazi.
The newspaper wrote in 2022, “A mix of five active and recently retired Diplomatic Security Service agents said that the State Department’s primary security service is failing its criminal investigation mission and is beset by chronic mismanagement and poor morale. Without reform and greater resources, they said the agency and its various missions face a dark future.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, referencing what the Washington Examiner believes is a credible fear of retribution.
Two sources said that as of Nov. 1, DSS’s New York field office had made no arrests in 2022. They said this contrasts with the office making 100-plus arrests in previous years. This is a consequence, they said, of three factors: poor leadership, DSS’s ever-expanding protection mission, and a cultural lack of interest by DSS leaders in traditional criminal investigations such as those involving visa and passport fraud.
All five sources said DSS’s leadership selection process is fundamentally flawed. One source bluntly described the DSS employee evaluation report system as a ‘b***s*** process’ in which agents are judged on their ability to “shine” their resume and earn favor from higher ranks. All five sources said personal rapport with those responsible for deciding on assignments is critical. They claimed promotion is rarely based on skill or suitability but far more often on an agent’s ability to secure a good ‘corridor reputation’ with senior ranks and “not make waves.” They offered repeated anecdotes of supervisory and even more senior agents sitting on selection boards for promotions, even when they had apparent conflicts of interest involving those applying for the respective roles. Some sources drew a contrast between the DSS selection/promotion process and that of the FBI, which centers on intensive interviews and experience specifically relevant to the position being applied for. All sources agreed that the DSS promotion process needs a wholesale review.”
As of now, neither the U.S. State Department nor Belgian authorities have publicly named the agent or commented on the incident. It remains to be seen whether the situation will have any diplomatic repercussions.
[Read More: Trump Doubles Down]
