Nearly all of Donald Trump’s nominations for crucial roles in his presidency have been unconventional. Pete Hegseth, a Fox News broadcaster, has been named as Trump’s potential security secretary.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a founder of a pharmaceutical company, has been appointed as the head of the previously named Department of Government Performance, replacing Elon Musk. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been chosen as the Department of Homeland Security director despite having much experience with frontier safety.
Linda McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder, has been mentioned as Trump’s good pick for secretary of commerce. These individuals have all shown a great deal of loyalty to Trump. Some candidates have public-selection experience.
That makes the election of Florida’s Senator Marco Rubio a little unexpected. Rubio was n’t an election sceptic, something that the other takes have been outspoken about, and he has years of experience as a legislator. Rubio even made a well-known mockery of Trump’s arms during the 2016 Republican primary campaign.
In Trump’s common clothing, he responded by referring to Rubio as” Little Marco”. However, it is obvious that these two have concealed the knife. Rubio eventually became one of Trump’s biggest supporters and ended up running for him.
What makes Rubio a surprising choice as Trump’s foreign policy president? Rubio is less fond of Russia and is seen as more of a conventional intervention. He called Vladimir Putin a “killer”, although within the last two years, Rubio has moderated his place.
This month, Rubio said that, although he supports Ukraine, the battle has to stop. Rubio argued that the US was providing for a standoff without protecting Ukraine or US objectives. He continued,” But that does n’t mean that we are happy or excited about Vladimir Putin’s actions.”
In April 2024, Rubio was also one of the Republicans who abstained from the Ukraine support costs. Rubio is likely to back Trump’s want to negotiate with Russia, which would leave Ukraine with no choice but to surrender substantial territory.
Rubio on NATO
Rubio has obviously changed his mind about Ukraine to fit Trump’s, but he does not agree with Trump on NATO. In fact, Rubio and Democrat Senator Tim Kaine cosponsored legislation that would require the Senate to approve a removal.
This likely represents a point of disagreement between Trump and NATO, but other NATO member countries may interpret it as a positive indicator.
Trump, nevertheless, seems to be willing to look past this because he agrees with Rubio’s aggressive approach to China and Iran. Rubio has suggested that US investment industry be made illegal for businesses run by the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese government.
Rubio also supported a law to stop the transfer of Chinese goods that were produced using forced labour, and he also urged electric cars to not be subject to subsidies.
In terms of Iran, Rubio can see no difference between Masoud Pezeshkian’s command and that of hardliner Egyptian ex-president Ebrahim Raisi.
Rubio has advocated for tougher sanctions on Iran, and more force applied to suppress the government’s nuclear ambitions. A fervent admirer of Israel, Rubio has argued that Iran’s main goal is to make Israel unliveable.
Rubio would become the first Spanish British secretary of state if he was confirmed. He is fluent in Spanish. In Latin American elections, Trump has demonstrated blind belief in Rubio’s understanding of the area.
Rubio played about a secretary of state in Trump’s first word, which was undoubtedly a key part of US foreign policy toward Latin America. Rubio worked to revers the Obama administration’s softening of Cuba’s grip and impose stricter sanctions on the country’s defense.
Rubio’s involvement in Venezuela’s crackdown was likewise significant. Rubio has made it clear that there is no way to resolve Venezuela’s status as a “narco” position.
Rubio has stated that a military coup against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro may be open to all possibilities, and he has not ruled out a military coup. Rubio will likely recommend for far harsher restrictions against Venezuela, despite the fact that it’s unlikely that the US would enter.
But what best defines Rubio’s foreign policy? He certainly wants to take a tough approach towards America’s opponents, but had n’t recommend military invasions.
Transactional Trumpist
More important, Rubio is very interpersonal. In order to be a part of Trump’s inner group, he has made peace with changing his mind on important foreign policy issues.
Rubio will now have the freedom to clear US foreign policy in Latin America and the highly successful secretary of state position if he refused to support Ukraine in order to more strongly resemble the MAGA agenda.
While Trump’s major foreign policy objective is to try to maintain an” America first” mission, where US national interests are always commonplace, and to be unexpected, Rubio may take some predictability to his role.
He may be closer in perspective to Rex Tillerson, Trump’s former secretary of state who was ousted in 2018. Tillerson claimed that Trump reportedly referred to him as a “moron” because he had little knowledge of global activities behind closed doors. Or he might be more like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who often sang Trump’s compliments.
Pompeo evidently and undoubtedly did have democratic aspirations after his time in the cabinet, despite Tillerson’s. He may also pose a threat to JD Vance’s rising celebrity status.
Given Trump’s present dominance of the Democratic party, there are likely to be hostilities between Trump and Rubio. We might anticipate Rubio rolling into Trump’s camp. His positions may get a little more explicit once he is in place and in charge of global conversations.
Natasha Lindstaedt is a professor in the Department of Government, University of Essex.
The Conversation has republished this essay under a Creative Commons license. Read the original content.