President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to be his Secretary of State when he takes office in January.
The New York Times reported that multiple people familiar with Trump’s thinking said that he had appeared to settle on Rubio.
Rubio is widely known as a foreign policy hawk and is a solid pick for reestablishing American dominance on the global stage.
In particular, he is known for “taking hard lines on China and Iran,” the report said. “He initially found himself at odds with those Republicans who were more skeptical about interventions abroad, but he has also echoed Trump more recently on issues like Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying that the conflict has reached a stalemate and ‘needs to be brought to a conclusion.’”
The news comes shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump tapped Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a Green Beret veteran, to be his national security adviser when he takes office in January.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to The Daily Wire.
National security adviser is a role that is highly influential in any administration as it is responsible for briefing the president on national security matters, coordinating between national security agencies, and executing the president’s agenda.
The role does not require Senate confirmation.
Waltz is a well-known China hawk and should be a champion for a peace through strength approach to U.S. foreign policy.
The moves come after Trump already named Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to U.N. Ambassador, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan to be his new “border czar”, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to lead the EPA.
