From Trump names pro-Israel Sen. Marco Rubio as his nominee for secretary of state
US President-elect Donald Trump names Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state, setting up a onetime critic who evolved into one of the president-elect’s fiercest defenders to become the nation’s top diplomat.
The conservative lawmaker is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate this summer. He is a staunch supporter of Israel.
On Capitol Hill, Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has pushed for taking a harder line against China and has targeted social media app TikTok because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers contend that Beijing could demand access to the data of users whenever it wants.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump says of Rubio in a statement.
Over the last several years Rubio has softened some of his stances to align with Trump’s more isolationist views, but remains a staunch supporter of Israel.
He has also accused US President Joe Biden of insufficient support for Israel as it wages war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which started with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted; Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones at Israel the next day. In April, after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, Rubio said the Biden administration was working to prevent an Israeli response because it was “still catering to its anti-Israel, antisemitic base.”
