It has emerged that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as the secretary of state in his administration, which will kick off in January; the nomination is expected to be made in the coming days, a source close to Trump said.
The source also noted that the president-elect may decide to change his mind in the middle of any last-minute decisions; according to him, the decision can only be confirmed when he makes a public announcement.
The New York Times reported that the president-elect was expected to appoint Rubio as the country’s top diplomat. Foreign policy is one of the few areas in which Trump’s base has a deep philosophical disagreement.
During the campaigns, Trump had hinted that he was going to implement policies that put America first, an indication that relies on less foreign aid; the policies will further cut the involvement of the US in the conflicts that are currently going on in different parts of the world and ways to avoid future disputes. At the same time, there remains a different pressure on foreign policy thinking among prominent Trump supporters.
It has been indicated that Rubio was a good supporter of Trump; there have been indications that he was one of the less MAGA people considered for the positions Trump spoke on. The ally further stated that the position requires appealing enough to Trump’s more isolationist political base but also supporting the less disruptive brand of foreign policy that those Trump backers generally oppose.
It has been noted that Rubio a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, has been picked as the potential person who is appealing enough for the president. His picking has been contacted and said to be connected to him being one of the persons that the political base of Trump agrees with and his potential of not killing the relationship the country has with foreign allies.
The ally also noted that the Rubio has been seen as an individual the political base of Trump could trust for several reasons.
Another Trump Ally noted that Marco, a little more hawkish than the incoming president and vice president, was not too far away from them as people may assume at first instance. Another ally further noted that he’s become far more aligned with the president on issues regarding tariffs. He has a similar stand on the China issue and even voted against the last round of Ukraine funding.
A current senior administration official who spoke about the predicted appointment disclosed that Rubio would be a good appointment for the position as he described him as a serious and qualified person for the position. The ally stated that picking Rubio would be a relief given reporting that Ric Grenell, the highly controversial ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, was also in the mix. Multiple career diplomats said they were concerned about the State Department’s becoming politicized if Grenell were nominated.
In Trump’s last administration, many of the diplomats in senior positions sat in the State Department descended, which was a personal decision for all of them. Their departures started imminently after the election through attrition as the authority of their positions was redirected to political appointees.
It has been disclosed that the Trump had considered the appointment of Runio as the running mate before choosing Senator JD Vance.
In the case of the appointment of Rubio as the secretary of state, the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, would have to choose a replacement for the seat. The replacement will take the seat till 2026, when an election will be held to replace the seat.
Trump has made a series of announcements in recent days regarding different staff positions. Earlier on Monday, the president-elect announced plans to nominate former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., as the Environmental Protection Agency’s top administrator and to appoint Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., as his national security adviser.
Last week, he made an appointment that could be seen as the first for the new administration: Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, would be White House chief of staff. On Sunday, he named immigration hard-liner Tom Homan his border czar.
