President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday formally shared his intention to appoint Republican Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state.
Rubio, 53, has served within the Senate since 2011. The Florida Senator is presently the vice-chair of the Senate Choose Committee on Overseas Intelligence and likewise sits on the chamber’s Committee on Overseas Relations.
“Marco is a Extremely Revered Chief, and a really highly effective Voice for Freedom. He might be a robust Advocate for our Nation, a real pal to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who won’t ever again right down to our adversaries,” Trump stated in a press release on Wednesday.
A number of long-serving State Division officers informed ABC Information they respect Rubio’s intensive international coverage expertise and look at him as unlikely to overly politicize the secretary of state function.
Rubio was additionally stated to be favored for the function by Trump’s chief of workers and veteran Florida political operative Susie Wiles, probably serving to the lawmaker edge out loyalists from the primary Trump administration like former appearing Director of Nationwide Intelligence Richard Grenell and former Nationwide Safety Adviser Robert O’Brien.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets Senator Marco Rubio throughout a marketing campaign rally on the J.S. Dorton Area in Raleigh, N.C., on Nov. 4, 2024.
Ryan M. Kelly/AFP through Getty Pictures, FILE
In an interview following Trump’s election victory, Rubio informed CNN that the U.S. was getting into “an period of pragmatic international coverage.”
“The world is quickly altering. You realize, adversaries are uniting — in North Korea, Iran, China, Russia — growing coordinating,” Rubio stated. “It will require us to be very pragmatic and sensible in how we make investments abroad and what we do.”
Rubio has constantly held many hawkish and historically Republican positions on worldwide issues, together with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however has bent to align with Trump’s agenda — together with his skeptical view of sustained help for Kyiv’s battle effort.
Whereas Rubio was initially a number one advocate for Ukraine, he voted in opposition to a supplemental funding invoice handed in April that allotted about $61 billion {dollars} for the nation, explaining on the time that he rejected the laws as a result of he didn’t imagine it adequately addressed immigration issues.
“I’m not on Russia’s facet — however sadly the truth of it’s that the best way the battle in Ukraine goes to finish is with a negotiated settlement,” Rubio stated throughout an interview in late September.
“And I would like, and we would like, and, I imagine Donald Trump desires, for Ukraine to have extra leverage in that negotiation,” he added.
Due to Rubio’s stature within the Senate and lengthy tenure in Washington, his Senate affirmation course of is broadly anticipated to run easily.
Rubio’s appointment is just not anticipated to create issues for Republicans within the Senate. Florida regulation authorizes the state’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, to fill the empty seat by appointment till the subsequent scheduled common election, when Floridians would vote for candidates to serve out the rest of Rubio’s time period.
Republicans see Trump’s double-digit win over Vice President Kamala Harris in Florida, the best margin of victory for a presidential candidate within the state for 36 years, as an indication that the previous battleground is now a firmly cemented as a GOP stronghold.
Rubio has additionally dramatically shifted towards the president-elect lately, remodeling from a rival Trump as soon as dubbed “Lil Marco” to a contender for a prime Cupboard publish in his second administration
Throughout the 2016 presidential election, Rubio ran in opposition to Trump for the Republican nomination — slamming him as a “con artist” on the marketing campaign path earlier than dropping out after dropping to Trump within the Florida major.
Rubio finally endorsed Trump’s bid for the White Home and was extensively supportive of his insurance policies throughout his first time period, throughout which Rubio served as an unofficial adviser on technique for Latin America and was described by the New York Occasions as a “digital secretary of state” for the administration.
In 2024, Rubio once more endorsed Trump for president and was on the shortlist of potential operating mates earlier than Trump finally chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance.
