Trump confirms nomination of Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State

The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, confirmed the nomination of Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, for the position of Secretary of State.

“It is my great honor to announce that Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is hereby nominated to be Secretary of State of the United States,” Trump said in a social media message on Wednesday. two days after the New York Times reported the news.

“He will be a strong defender of our nation, a true friend to our allies and a brave warrior who will never surrender to our adversaries,” Trump stressed.

Rubio, a 53-year-old Cuban-American, is the first Hispanic and first politician of Cuban origin to rise to such a position in the Government, if confirmed by Congress.

Rubio considered that it is “a great responsibility,” for which he feels “honored.”

Rubio made clear his aggressive policy stance toward what he views as the United States’ geopolitical enemies, such as China, Iran and Cuba. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will achieve peace through strength and will always put the interests of the American people and the United States above all else.”

In recent years he has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Trump’s views. The president-elect accuses previous United States leaders of leading the country into costly and useless wars and has advocated a more restrained foreign policy.

A volatile world ahead

The new administration will face a more volatile and dangerous world than it was when Trump took office in 2017, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and China aligning itself more closely with US enemies Russia and Iran.

The Ukraine crisis will be high on Rubio’s agenda.

Rubio has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia instead of focusing on taking back all the territory Russia has taken over the last decade. He was also one of 15 Republican senators who voted against a $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, approved in April.

“I’m not on Russia’s side, but unfortunately the reality is that the war in Ukraine is going to end with a negotiated settlement,” Rubio told NBC in September.

A tough politician against China and Cuba

Some of Trump’s supporters will be skeptical of his decision to turn to Rubio, who until recently held powerful foreign policy stances that contradict Trump’s.

During Trump’s 2017-2021 term, for example, Rubio co-sponsored legislation that would make it more difficult for Trump to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by requiring two-thirds of the Senate to ratify the exit.

Trump has spent years attacking NATO member countries that do not meet agreed-upon military spending targets and warned during the campaign that he would not only refuse to defend nations that are “delinquent” in financing, but would also encourage Russia “to do whatever they want” with them.

Rubio is one of the main “hawks” against China in the Senate.

Most notably, he asked the Treasury Department in 2019 to launch a national security review of the popular Chinese social media app TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly, prompting an investigation and a troubled divestment order.

As the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he has also kept up pressure on Joe Biden’s administration, demanding that it block all sales to Huawei earlier this year after the sanctioned Chinese tech company launched a new laptop. Powered by an Intel AI processor chip.

Rubio, whose grandfather fled Cuba in 1962, is also openly opposed to normalizing relations with the Cuban government, a position shared by Trump.

The head of the House subcommittee that oversees Latin American affairs, he is also a frequent and fierce critic of Nicolás Maduro’s government in Venezuela.

[Con información de Reuters]

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