Hope for Europe?

Trump nominates NATO advocate as Secretary of State

US Senator Marco Rubio

(Bild: AFP/Rebecca NOBLE )

Donald Trump is now announcing new personnel decisions on an hourly basis, but this one is particularly important: the Republican has nominated Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. This is special from several points of view. 

"Marco is a highly respected leader and a strong voice for freedom," Trump said in a written statement. "He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down from our adversaries."

Rubio, 53, has been in the US Senate since 2011 and tried unsuccessfully to become the Republican presidential candidate himself in 2016. However, he failed in the primary campaign against Trump. During this time, the two men shared a deep enmity. Rubio called Trump an "impostor". The latter disparaged him as "little Marco" due to his height.

However, Rubio quickly fell into line and was one of Trump's most diligent campaigners during the election campaign. He is even said to have been on the shortlist for the vice presidential nomination before J.D. Vance, who was also very critical of Trump and once called him "America's Hitler", won the bid. 

Trump and Rubio are now one heart and one soul.

(Bild: AFP/Ryan M. Kelly)

What are Rubio's views?
Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants and therefore the first Latino to hold the US foreign office. He recently voted against new billion-dollar support for Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. "I think the Ukrainians were incredibly brave and strong when they stood up to Russia," Rubio said in early November. "But at the end of the day, we're funding a stalemate war here that has to be brought to an end or the country will be set back 100 years."

The Republican sees his main focus in other parts of the world: he is considered a pro-Israeli hardliner and critic of Beijing. Rubio declared China to be the biggest challenge for US foreign policy. In a guest article published by the "Washington Post" in September, he described Beijing as "the greatest and most progressive adversary America has ever faced". In Chinese media, he is often referred to as an "anti-China pioneer".

In the past, he has also repeatedly made reference to Ukraine: "I think China would welcome it if we were stuck in a conflict in Europe and not focusing on what is happening in the Indo-Pacific."

Rubio stands by the NATO alliance
Although the US senator from Florida is considered an advocate of NATO, he has adapted his position to Trump over the years. He recently called for a "real alliance". In other words, Rubio wants to put pressure on the member states to invest more in their national defense.

The 53-year-old is also an advocate of a tough stance towards Iran. Rubio described Tehran as a "terrorist regime". The "emerging rise of an axis" led by China, Russia and Iran is the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States. 

Rubio was already considered a promising up-and-comer in the Republican Party at a young age. Two years after obtaining his doctorate in law, his stellar political career on the Miami City Council began in 1998. With the support of the arch-conservative Tea Party movement, he made it to the Senate in Washington, where he has been a member since 2011.

In his 2012 memoir "An American Son", Rubio described how his cigar-smoking grandfather told him that the United States was a beacon of light for the world's oppressed. Now he is likely to serve in the Trump cabinet, which is threatening migrants from Latin America in particular with mass deportations.