Donald Trump is setting up his cabinet as he prepares to assume office as the 47th President of the US early next year. The speed at which he has made a flurry of recent nominations indicates the final lineup will take shape by Thanksgiving. And since the Republicans now control the Senate, Trump’s nominees are all but confirmed. The president-elect claims to have assembled the “most diverse cabinet in America’s history”, but some of his selections have sparked controversies due to the mountain of baggage they carry. While Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, and Robert Kennedy Jr. for Secretary Health may have shocked Washington DC, it is his nomination of three-time Florida Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State that has sent shockwaves across the globe – especially in Latin America, China, and Iran.
It’s surprising that Trump now calls the same Rubio “a strong advocate for our nation” who he once mocked as “Little Marco” and “Choke Artist.” It’s more surprising because Trump is an avowed ‘America-First’ noninterventionist focused on ‘Making America Great Again’ (MAGA), and Rubio is a neocon who believes “the world without American engagement is a world none of us wants to live with.” He has also blamed the current international conflicts – Ukraine and Gaza in particular – on the chaotic exit of US forces from Afghanistan. “The world is in total chaos, and you can link it all the way back to the day that we were run out of Afghanistan by the Taliban, humiliated in the way that we were. That was a signal to the world… that America is weak,” he said in a FoxNews interview on Oct 27.
Some political commentators, however, aren’t surprised because, in their analysis, it’s a conscious effort by Trump to save his second administration from the shenanigans of the deep state because Rubio’s views are aligned with the neocon foreign policy establishment. “The bird-brains at State [Department] speak mainly neocon, like Rubio. And he could be the MAGA-to-neocon translator for Trump, packaging the 47th president’s vision in a way that’s palatable enough for them to not spend the entire time trying to regime-change him like they did last time he was elected,” writes ‘RT’ columnist Rachel Marsden.
The Florida senator is known for his hawkish approach towards China and Iran, his staunch criticism of Leftist Latin American governments, and his vehement support for Israel. Rubio’s statements available on his page on the US Senate website offer a sneak peek into his views that would possibly shape his foreign policy priorities. Let’s examine.
Iran Obsession
Senator Rubio appears to be obsessed with Iran. He has consistently pursued a confrontationist approach toward Tehran going as far as calling the Islamic Republic a terrorist regime. He has supported overseas Iranian dissident groups, including the Mujahideen-e-Khalq Organisation (MKO) which Tehran demonises as a “Zionist-backed terror cult” seeking to topple the theocratic regime. Rubio has publicly said that MKO and the US share a “common battle” that is to “give power back to the people” by dislodging the ruling Ayatollahs.
Rubio also sponsored the MAHSA Act enacted in April 2024 that sanctioned Iran-affiliated foreign individuals and entities for “oppression, crimes against humanity, and international terrorism.” The legislation was named after Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian girl who, according to Rubio, was beaten to death in police custody, triggering nationwide deadly riots.
The Republican senator didn’t offer condolences on the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. Instead, he called Raisi “one of the bloodiest hardliners” who has left behind a reign of terror. “From his support of international terrorism, mass murders of the Iranian people, and other human rights abuses, the world won’t soon forget Raisi’s atrocities,” Rubio said in a statement on May 20. Then in September, the senator defended the Israeli airstrike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, saying that “wiping out not just Nasrallah, but the senior leadership of this evil organisation is a service to humanity.”
A month later Iran fired ballistic missiles at the Jewish state to avenge the killing of Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Rubio was so angry at Iran’s chutzpah that he called for an “overwhelming and disproportionate” Israeli response to neutralise the Iranian threat. Earlier on Sept 19, the Florida senator criticised the Biden administration’s failure to enforce the MASHA Act and the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act. “Only by exerting maximum pressure on members of the Iranian regime and connected individuals can we hope to stem its behavior,” he wrote in a letter to President Biden.
Rubio has also repeatedly accused the Iranian regime of using Yemen’s Houthis as a proxy for its geopolitical interests. On Nov 1, he called on the Biden administration to redesignate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organisation because the Iran-baked group “has only escalated its efforts to destabilise the Middle East by firing drones and missiles at Israel, disrupting international shipping, attacking US forces.”
On June 27, he wrote in an opinion piece in National Review that two American Navy SEALs were killed in an operation to stop an Iranian weapon shipment to the Houthis. “When our country’s enemies go unpunished for attacking Americans and paralysing the global economy, we are inviting them to continue their reckless, unchecked aggression,” he wrote.
Given Senator Rubio’s antagonism towards and Trump’s previous tough dealing with Iran, Trump 2.0 is expected to reintroduce the “maximum pressure” policy by tightening sanctions on Iran’s oil industry to pressure the regime into agreeing to a new nuclear deal on American-Israeli terms or else he might allow Israel to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities, or even attempt regime change in the Islamic Republic. The last two scenarios could trigger an apocalyptic war that could suck in the entire Middle East – something Trump cannot afford.
Israelophilia
Senator Rubio, a self-proclaimed Zionist, supports Israel’s new settlement policy in the West Bank because he believes “God has given Palestine to Israel.” He is opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza and says Tel Aviv has a right to defend itself against Hamas’ “sadistic savages” who he blames for all civilian casualties in Gaza because, according to him, “Israel takes extraordinary steps to avoid civilian losses.”
On the first anniversary of Oct 7th attack, the Republican condemned the “barbaric and unprovoked assault against Israel” which resulted in “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.” He accused Hamas of mass rape of women, mutilation of babies, and slaughtering of countless families – an allegation never investigated independently. “Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East, and their enemies are our enemies. We must provide them with whatever it takes to defeat Hamas,” Rubio said in a video message released on Oct 6.
While dehumanising the Palestinians and throwing his weight behind Israel’s genocidal campaign, the Republican senator on March 5 reintroduced the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad International Terrorism Support Prevention Act of 2024 to sanction foreign entities and governments supporting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or their affiliates. “The barbaric terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7th by Hamas savages reaffirm the importance of sanctioning the group’s enablers and the governments who provide material support to these terrorists,” he stated while introducing the legislation.
Netzah Yehuda, an ultra-Orthodox battalion of Israel Defence Forces, has been accused of human rights violations during its operations in the West Bank. When the Biden administration was considering imposing sanctions on Netzah Yehuda, Senator Rubio condemned the move. “This unit has been on the frontline against Hezbollah, which is terrorising Israelis in Judea and Samaria, and it is now working to dismantle Hamas brigades in Gaza. These impending sanctions … will stigmatise the entire IDF and encourage Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime,” he said in a statement on April 25.
Earlier this year, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza set off student protests at many American college campuses. Protesters called for universities to dissociate themselves from companies advancing Israel’s Gaza campaign. On Sept 4, the senator introduced the Preventing Antisemitic Harassment on Campus Act, stating that “colleges and universities claim to value diversity and inclusion but have failed to address dangerous antisemitic incidents that have been plaguing campuses for the past year.”
The Republican senator’s past statements and moves have led to fears that he as Trump’s foreign policy chief would advocate for ratcheting up support for Israel’s campaign to finish off Hamas and Hezbollah, annex the West Bank, and normalise ties with the Middle Eastern states to isolate Iran, the only potent threat to its existence.
Sinophobia
In Senator Rubio’s views, China is the greatest geopolitical challenge the US faces in the 21st century, a sentiment reflected in the hawkish and provocative language he uses in his statements. The Republican has accused Beijing of “stealing technology, exploiting capitalism, and coercing companies,” arguing that Beijing’s actions have deindustrialised the US, eroded American jobs, and monopolised critical industries in its bid to eclipse America as the world’s dominant power. Rubio proposes that the US must confront China on six fronts: geopolitics, diplomacy, culture, technology, commerce, and trade.
In a Sept 20 opinion piece for the New York Post, the senator raised alarms about the purported closure of industries in Latin America, disruptions in Asian markets, and the capture of the European EV market by Chinese overproduction. He argued that “free trade” with China has been a “one-way ticket to broken industries, bankrupt businesses, and widespread unemployment,” leading to the US becoming increasingly dependent on a “power-hungry dictatorship.”
Rubio has never missed a chance to co-sponsor anti-China legislations in the Senate. On June 12, he proposed the Confronting CCP Malign Influence Act of 2024, warning of the dangers a Beijing-led new world order could pose. He was also behind the Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act on Sept 19, which seeks to apply tariffs on goods made by “foreign adversaries,” regardless of where they are produced. He criticised China for bypassing US laws designed to protect American industries, saying that “America cannot afford to surrender its economic future to Beijing.”
The Republican has also been vocal about purported human rights violations in the Xinjiang region. On Sept 19, he introduced the No Funds for Forced Labor Act, which would require US officials at international financial institutions to oppose projects involving forced labor, particularly in Xinjiang. On Oct 31, he wrote to US officials demanding that the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act be fully implemented.
Rubio’s stance on China is so hawkish and confrontationist that he is averse to any engagement with Beijing. On Aug 27, he condemned National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit to China as an “embarrassing attempt to lower tensions” with a regime he believes poses serious threats to the US and its allies. The senator also took exception to Brazil’s invitation to the People's Liberation Army to participate in the “Operation Formosa” military exercises alongside US forces, warning that it would allow China to exploit American military strategies.
Rubio was also at the forefront of efforts to portray the TikTok app as a national security threat, claiming in an April 22 statement that the US had been “dangerously shortsighted” in allowing a Chinese-controlled company to operate one of the most popular apps in America. He called for the US to respond more swiftly to similar threats in the future.
Senator Rubio’s outspoken, hardline approach to China has earned him the moniker of “anti-China pioneer” from the Chinese media, with Beijing responding by imposing sanctions and a travel ban against him. By picking Rubio as his foreign policy czar, Trump has made his intention clear: he would scale up economic assaults on China through measures that could potentially trigger a global trade war.
Russophobia
There aren’t many Russia-related statements on Rubio’s webpage since Jan 2024. However, he considers Russia together with Iran and China as the “new axis” that seeks to undermine America’s global leadership role. The senator has repeatedly called Vladimir Putin an enemy of America and its European allies and has co-sponsored a slew of punitive measures targeting Moscow. “We know that the Russians have been involved in attempted sabotage operations throughout Europe as a way of inflicting costs on nations in Europe that are assisting Ukraine,” he said in a Nov 6 statement.
Nonetheless, he believes the US has to deal with Putin to avoid escalation of the Ukraine conflict into a possible nuclear apocalypse. “I think Vladimir Putin is an enemy of the United States. I assure you,…any future American president…is going to have to interact with Vladimir Putin, because he has the largest nuclear stockpile in the world because he has one of the world’s largest militaries…,” Rubio said on Oct 27 Fox News show.
At the same time, Rubio, like his would-be boss Trump, also believes Volodymyr Zelenskyy has for too long exploited America’s generosity in return for the promise of an elusive battleground victory against Russia – and it needs to end now. “Ultimately, what we’re financing here is a stalemate, and it needs to be brought to an end. I believe common sense should prevail,” the senator said in a statement this month. “You don't have to be a fan of Vladimir Putin to want to end the war.”
During his presidential campaign and after his election, Trump has repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war diplomatically and has already prepared a possible peace plan. However, it might not be easy for Trump and Rubio to push for a negotiated end to a war that the neocon establishment seeks to prolong to keep the American military-industrial complex running. And this was made known to Trump when President Biden in his swan song move authorised Ukraine to use American-supplied long-range missiles deep inside Russia – something Putin has warned would be akin to crossing the “red line” between proxy war and direct war.
The Russian leader wasn’t bluffing. A day after Kyiv fired American ATACMS missiles, Moscow’s tactical forces unleashed the new hypersonic, medium-range Oreshnik missile on Ukraine in a stark warning to the US and its allies. Oreshnik can hit targets throughout Europe and, according to Moscow, “there are no means of counteracting it in the world.”
Factoring in Indo-Pak
It’s a common perception that Pakistan may not be relevant for the Trump administration, which has more pressing concerns on its agenda. In the absence of significant geostrategic motivations, Trump is likely to engage with Pakistan on a transactional basis, particularly in the realm of counterterrorism. There is a possibility that Trump may discontinue the current assistance under the US “Green Alliance” framework, which focuses on water management, clean energy, and climate-smart agriculture, especially given his stance on climate change, which he has dismissed as “mythical,” “nonexistent,” and “expensive hoax.”
Looking at Senator Rubio’s views and votes listed on his webpage, it appears that he may approach Pakistan primarily through the lens of China and Iran – given his obsession with the two – with India possibly also in the mix. The senator views India as a crucial US ally in containing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. On July 25, he introduced the US-India Defense Cooperation Act, calling for enhanced US support to India in defending its sovereignty against “China’s aggressive territorial expansion.”
The legislation envisages besides other things “equal treatment of India alongside other key US allies like Japan, Israel, South Korea, and NATO members when it comes to technology transfers. It also mandates a report to the US Congress on Pakistan’s use of offensive force – including terrorism and proxy warfare –against India and would bar Pakistan from receiving US security assistance if found to have supported such activities.