Trump picks adversary-turned-ally Marco Rubio to be US secretary of state

NEWS WIRES

13 November 2024 at 3:32 pm·1-min read

President-elect Donald Trump greets Sen. Marco Rubio during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 4, 2024.

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named adversary-turned-ally Senator Marco Rubio to be secretary of state in his incoming administration. Rubio is expected to push for a harder line on relations with China, Cuba and Iran.

President-elect Donald Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state on Wednesday, 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.

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 said of Rubio in a statement.

“That is like asking a boxer why they punched somebody in the face in the third round,” Rubio told CNN when asked about his previous comments. “It’s because they were boxing.”

(AP)

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