Trump to appoint Senator Rubio as Secretary of State, media report

Other leading US media, including The New York Times, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill, are also reporting on this topic.

According to Reuters, Rubio has been the most hawkish option on Trump's shortlist, advocating for a muscular foreign policy regarding America's geopolitical foes, including China, Iran, and Cuba. Over recent years, Rubio has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Trump's views. In particular, Donald Trump has accused past US presidents of leading America into costly and futile wars and has pushed for a more restrained foreign policy.

While the famously mercurial Trump could always change his mind at the last minute, he appeared to have settled on his pick, according to anonymous sources.

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

Position on Ukraine

The war in Ukraine will be high on Rubio's agenda. In recent interviews, the 53-year-old senator suggested that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated solution with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade. Rubio was one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, passed in April.

Reuters notes that Rubio's likely selection defines a broad shift in Republican views on foreign policy under Trump. Once the party of hawks who advocated military intervention and a muscular foreign policy, most of Trump's allies now preach restraint, particularly in Europe, where many Republicans complain US allies are not paying their fair share on defense.

"I'm not on Russia's side — but unfortunately, the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement," Rubio told NBC in September.

Domestic policy

Rubio's selection appears to be of domestic as well as international significance. Trump beat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election in part by winning over large numbers of Latinos, who had voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in previous election campaigns but have become an increasingly diverse demographic in a political sense, with more and more Latinos voting Republican.

By selecting Rubio for a key policy role, Trump may help consolidate electoral gains among Latinos and make it obvious that they have a seat at the highest levels of his administration.

According to Mauricio Claver-Carone, former president of the Inter-American Development Bank and a former National Security Council aide on Latin America in the first Trump administration, if confirmed, Rubio will likely have a much greater importance on Latin America than any previous Secretary of State.

"This is the time Latin America will most be on the map in the history of any US presidency. It's historic. There's no other way to say it," said Claver-Carone.

Stance on China

Rubio was one of three final contenders for Trump's vice-presidential position. The president-elect ultimately chose US Senator JD Vance of Ohio, a hard-right figure who is known for his isolationist foreign policy positions.

Some of Trump's supporters will be skeptical of his decision to tap Rubio, who until recently held muscular foreign policy positions that contradict those of Trump.

For instance, during Trump's 2017-2021 term, Rubio co-sponsored legislation that would make it harder for Trump to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by requiring two-thirds of the Senate to ratify withdrawal.

Trump has spoken for years against NATO member countries that failed to meet agreed military spending targets and warned during the campaign that he would not only refuse to defend nations "delinquent" on funding but would also encourage Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to them.

Rubio is also a top China hawk in the Senate and was sanctioned by Beijing in 2020 due to his stance on Hong Kong following democracy protests.

In 2019, Rubio called on the Treasury Department to initialize a national security review of the popular Chinese social media app TikTok's acquisition of Musical.ly, prompting an investigation and troubled divestment order.

As the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he has kept up the heat on the Biden administration, demanding it block all sales to Huawei earlier this year after the sanctioned Chinese tech company released a new laptop powered by an Intel AI processor chip.

Rubio, whose grandfather fled Cuba in 1962, is an outspoken opponent of normalizing relations with the Cuban government, a position Trump shares.

The head of the House subcommittee overseeing Latin American affairs, he is also a frequent and fierce critic of Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela.

As previously reported, the Trump administration's team is unlikely to prioritize support for Ukraine. For more details on the president-elect's team, read our article "Trump's week: Changes for Ukraine after US election and what comes next".