Marco Rubio was in office for a month when he became an Internet meme. A scene of the meeting between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian President in the White House, which became a scandal, was to blame. A journalist had just asked Wolodymyr Selenskyj why he was not wearing a suit. Vice President JD Vance sat on one of the golden sofas in the Oval Office and grinned broadly. Rubio was sitting next to him, with crossed hands and petrified expression. On the net you joked: Rubio looks like he regrets his life decisions. Would he like to disappear in the sofa? Others wrote, someone looks who has no backbone.
Half a year ago, many could not imagine that Rubio, as Foreign Minister in Trump’s cabinet, could be successful – and would hold out. The 54 -year -old former Senator from Florida, child of Cuban immigrants, was considered an experienced foreign politician. But Rubio was not a “America First” politician, but a falcon. Rubio is now “Minister for everything”, as a joke in Washington is: Foreign Minister, reigning national security advisor and head of interims of the processed development authority USAID. In mid -August, Trump then gave him the most difficult task: to work out security guarantees for Ukraine with the Europeans.
Trump says about Rubio, one of his most influential foreign policy consultants, that he is “incredible”. If he has a problem, he calls him and Rubio takes care of it. But the way there was far. When the Republican competed in the inner party pre -election campaign for the presidential election against Trump in spring 2016, he mocked him as a “Little Marco”. At the time, Rubio tried to shot back in similar rhetoric and made allusions to the alleged size of Trump’s genitals – which was hardly well received by anyone. In news to his supporters, the man from Florida wrote that Trump was a “serious danger to the future of our party and our country”. He is not only the opposite of what the Republican Party, but also the opposite of what America stands for. In 2020 he supported Trump’s once candidacy, in 2024 he stood on stage with him in the election campaign and called into a cheering amount in the usual Trump rhetoric: “We are not a scum.”
Outsiders in their own ranks
When Rubio became Foreign Minister in January, many nevertheless, many that he would not last long: too reasonable, too little radical. Former diplomats predicted that Rubio will soon be pushed to the edge, perhaps even exposed and fired in the event of criticism of Trump. The “Make America Great Again” faction found the “Neocon” from the establishment in Washington too little isolationist.
Ironically, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, Tammy Bruce, who was appointed by Trump, had often left Rubio in recent years. He was “a child who waves hectically in the back of the room to be perceived as important,” she said in the 2016 election campaign. Eight years later it sounded different. She is very much looking forward to working with Rubio. He was “one of the strongest allies” of Trump’s “America First” course, said Bruce after her appointment. However, Rubios did not unnoticed among the critics that he was the only cabinet member unanimously confirmed by the Senate, i.e. also received the support of all democrats.
Rubios facial expression in the Oval Office with Selenskyj went viral. However, the Foreign Minister has avoided any criticism of Trump in public since taking office. This should particularly like that Rubio regularly defends his foreign policy decisions on Sunday television. The president actually has a preference for great men with a determined appearance. It was not for nothing that he chose “Little Marco” as an insult for the 1.75 meter tall rubio in 2016. However, the Foreign Minister demonstrated his assertiveness after a few weeks when he went to Elon Musk, who had not yet fallen out of favor with Trump at that time.
In a cabinet meeting in March, the discussion of the two men escalated. Rubio, formerly a decisive supporter of foreign aid, was angry about Musk’s rigorose procedure in the processing of USAID and its plans for the changes in the Foreign Ministry, which the minister wanted to implement less quickly. Musk, in turn, accused Rubio’s inactivity to the austerity course, as American media reported. And Trump? According to the reports, he observed the argument with entangled arms – and finally struck Rubios. This does a “great job”: he is always on trips, a lot on television and has to lead a ministry. So everyone would have to work together.
Trump names Rubio as a possible political heir
In May, Trump Rubio, together with Vance, first named as a possible successor with a view to the presidential election in 2028. In June, he said in alluding to the television debates with Rubio eight years ago that it was not easy against him at the time – and Rubio has gotten even better since then. At the beginning of July, Trump said in his presence that he dear Rubio: The man was a natural talent. “Who would have thought,” added Trump, “we fought..” Rubio laughed, the sentence remained unfinished. The “Wall Street Journal” recently quoted an employee of the White House with the words that Trump is heating the rivalry between Vance and Rubio. So the President is said to have said that he had always believed that there would be a Vance-Rubio ticket in the election campaign, “but maybe it will also be Rubio-Vance”, that is, Rubio as President and Vance as his vice. In an interview, the Foreign Minister himself recently called a “great candidate” for the next election, but left all the options open. You never know what the future brings.
Rubio spent a lot of time in the White House before he got his own office in the West Wing as a national security advisor. In the first few months he is said to have worked from a secure room in the basement between the meetings with Trump. His environment reports on a good relationship with Trump’s influential chief of staff Susie Wiles and also Vice President Vance. Rubios Good contact with Trump apparently also comes from a common passion for sports and wrestling. In political things, in turn, he should not push him to anything, the broadcaster recently reported, citing sources from the White House. He offers him options, show different ways of action, but never try to bring Trump to a different result than he has in mind.
Trump’s course correction in Ukraine policy and the military strokes on Iran, both of which do not meet the ideal ideas of the Maga movement, could have arisen from such a procedure. After the military strokes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to participants in the Rubio meeting, it was not the much more inexperienced Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, who cited the information of the congress members. So far, nothing has indicated that the double role Rubios, which was initially planned as a temporary solution, could soon end as Foreign Minister and Security Advisor.
Rubio was disappointed with those who hoped for him as a more moderate voice in the Trump government. When the former senator started his post as Foreign Minister, he described his future employees as the “greatest, most efficient, most talented, most experienced diplomatic corps” in the world. These were different tones than from Trump, who had already fighted the institutions in Washington in the election campaign. But when more than 1300 employees of the Foreign Ministry were released in July, Rubio did not protect himself in front of her. In a message, it was said that domestic processes were rationalized “to concentrate on diplomatic priorities”. Internally, it was said that Rubio had not bent on the matter, but did his own plans. But obviously, he didn’t want to start an uprising against Trump either.
In a hearing in front of the Senate Federal Foreign Committee, the democratic Senator Chris van Hollen noticed in May that he regretted having voted for Rubio. The one in turn returned, this regret confirmed “that I do a good job”. But Rubio has apparently not forgotten that he has experienced other times with Trump. A friend in the White House is said to have told him recently that he had come far since the “Little Marco” remarks. Rubio replied with his own ironic way that he was always only a step away from becoming “Little Marco” again.
