Secretary of State Marco Rubio – once derided by Donald Trump as “Little Marco”– has emerged as the trusted point man riding shotgun on Trump’s mechanical bull of a foreign policy – from taking Greenland to dealing with a dangerous Iran.
No secretary of state in recent history has had to deal with so many crises and hot spots all at once – Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, Gaza. Rubio will either sink or swim in his precarious position.
It’s a difficult job. All it took was one major stumble — Benghazi — to trip up former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But if Rubio is successful navigating the multiple storms he faces, he could become the Republicans’ best hope at keeping the White House in 2028.
While Rubio has publicly backed JD Vance’s presidential aspirations, he might change his mind and jump in the race if he’s convinced he could win.
“If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair.
That statement was viewed with suspicion by many Republicans who see Rubio not willing to play second fiddle to Vance.
In 2016, when he ran against Trump, Rubio called him a “con artist.” But Rubio has since done a 180-degree turn.
Rubio, a former Florida senator and of Cuban descent, has been praised as a calm, stable, reasonable and trusted voice in President Trump’s inner circle.
He has had to negotiate so many different roles that it’s sparking memes on the internet depicting him in charge of various positions in the Trump world.
After one user on social media joked that Rubio “will be president of Cuba,” Trump replied: “Sounds good to me.”
Rubio himself joked recently that he is also a “candidate for the currently vacant HC and GM positions with the Miami Dolphins.”
Marco’s official positions in addition to secretary of state are national security adviser and archivist of the United States. But he’s much more than that.
Rubio is now Trump’s main point man in Venezuela, taking the lead in explaining the administration’s arrest of Nicolas Maduro and defending the operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture.
Asked about Trump’s comments that the U.S. could be running Venezuela for years, Rubio defended the president.
“I understand that in this cycle and society we now live in, everyone wants instant outcomes,” Rubio said. “They want it to happen overnight. It’s not going to work that way.”
But Venezuela is hardly the only hot spot Rubio is dealing with now. A new report on Monday said Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have discussed the possibility of military intervention in Iran.
Israel is now on “high alert” preparing for that possibility, according to a Reuters report, which came amid deadly anti-regime protests across Iran over the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, in another part of the globe, Denmark is reportedly seeking a meeting with Rubio after Trump again called on the U.S. to take over Greenland.
Rubio, attempting to calm nervous lawmakers, told them the U.S. intended to “purchase” the Arctic island, not take it by military force.
This was an example of Rubio stabilizing Trump and keeping him from getting into too much trouble. Good luck with that in the future.