Marco Rubio: Secretary of faith

ILLUSTRATION: SREEJITH R. KUMAR

Marco Rubio, the new U.S. Secretary of State has not been a typical acolyte of Donald Trump. The fact that the entire Senate voted for this confirmation is proof enough of the bipartisan acceptability he has nurtured over the years. Mr. Rubio represented Florida in the Senate since 2010 for three terms and in the interim, in 2016, he was among the several Republicans who ran against Mr. Trump in the presidential primary.

That was a bitterly fought primary in which the gatecrasher vanquished Republican veterans and captured the party. Mr. Trump has nicknames for all his opponents and it was “Little Marco” for Mr. Rubio. Mr. Rubio called his future boss a “con artist”. But soon after he quit the primaries, Mr. Rubio aligned with Mr. Trump and in 2024, he openly campaigned for him. Mr. Trump considered him as running mate, before choosing J.D. Vance.

Mr. Rubio is the first Latino to become Secretary of State. His parents left Cuba in 1956, and came to Florida. Mr. Rubio cites his life story as an example of American opportunity. He inherited from his parents a strong commitment to family. “They’re the most important legacy any of us will leave behind,” he said after being sworn in on January 21, referring to his four children who were present, along with his wife. His Christian faith is as strident as his opposition to communism and socialism. “…Almighty God and my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That is truly the singular purpose of our lives,” he said in his first remarks in the new role. Mr. Rubio has been a champion of vocational education since early days in politics and later it merged with his aversion to ‘woke’ politics. “Welders make more money than philosophers,” Mr. Rubio said during his 2016 presidential campaign. “We need more welders and less philosophers.”

Mr. Rubio’s political career took off as a city commissioner in Florida, and by 34, in 2005, he was Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. When the Tea Party movement was shaking up the Republican Party, Mr. Rubio sensed his chance. Riding the popular resentment against party veterans, Mr. Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Within five years, someone more unconventional, Mr. Trump, would beat him in the home turf of Florida in the Republican primaries.

Middle path

In the Senate, Mr. Rubio broadly traversed a middle path, though he is hawkish on most international issues, which places him at odds with Mr. Trump. But on one critical question, China, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Trump are perfectly aligned. Both see China as the real challenger to U.S. supremacy. Mr. Rubio has mellowed down his harsh views with regard to Russia and its President Vladimir Putin who he once termed a “war criminal”. In the last one year, he moved from being a supporter of Ukraine in the war with Russia, to a more nuanced approach and closer to Mr. Trump’s views. He now says U.S. interest is not served by endlessly financing a stalemate, and a compromise has to be found. He thinks Russia may be a problem, but what matters in the timeframe of a century is China. His hawkish views have earned him a travel ban by China. The new Secretary of State thinks that the U.S. should not be caught in Europe and the focus should be on the Indo-Pacific. This thinking may guide the State Department in its dealings with India.

Mr. Rubio has supported most of U.S. interventions that Mr. Trump views as detrimental to the country’s interest. He endorsed American role in Libya and is fiercely against the regime in Iran. He has made it clear that he would take the lead from the President on all issues, who has also appointed several special envoys for various regions and issues. Mr. Rubio was one of Gang of Eight lawmakers who drafted a comprehensive immigration reform plan that proposed conditional amnesty for undocumented residents in the country. Since then, U.S. politics has turned much more hostile to immigrants, and so has Mr. Rubio himself. Mr. Rubio will have a tough task of navigating American foreign policy in an extremely volatile world under an extremely volatile boss. His faith may help.