Marco Rubio could be a valuable voice at State, if he is heeded

Rubio opposed Afghanistan withdrawal, initially supported arming Ukraine and voted to certify the 2020 election.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida) with Donald Trump on Oct. 29 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By the Editorial Board, The Washington Post, November 12, 2024 at 5:53 p.m. EST; regarding the Rubio/Trump relationship in earlier times (if you have a sense of humor), see

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), reportedly President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state, opposed withdrawing from Afghanistan, initially supported arming Ukraine and voted to certify the results of the 2020 election. He understands the value of alliances and of the American-led global order. Although he’s recently shifted in Mr. Trump’s direction on foreign policy, along with the rest of the Republican Party, he has never embraced isolationism. The success — or failure — of the incoming Trump administration might depend on whether voices such as Mr. Rubio’s are included — and heeded.

To be clear: Mr. Rubio’s selection likely would not signal a change in Mr. Trump’s foreign policy thinking. Yet it could imply a shift in the United States’ approach to China. So, too, could Mr. Trump’s selection of Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Florida), another China hawk who worked for Vice President Dick Cheney, to be his national security adviser.

If anything, Mr. Rubio has been more hawkish toward China than Mr. Trump. After his 2010 election to the Senate, Mr. Rubio drew a hard line toward Beijing long before that became the fashionable view in Washington. He was among the first elected Republicans to speak out against U.S. corporate executives who, in his view, sought profit by cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party. The 53-year-old supports banning TikTok, a position on which Mr. Trump reversed himself during the 2024 campaign. He has also been more explicit than Mr. Trump about his willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. 

The past few presidents talked about pivoting U.S. foreign policy toward Asia, only to be distracted by conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. Mr. Rubio might actually shift the State Department’s emphasis from the West to the East. A more confrontational approach toward Beijing risks conflict. Yet it could also provide opportunity to negotiate hard deals and détente with China, on terms favorable to U.S. interests. 

Mr. Rubio, the son of working-class Cuban immigrants, would be the first Latino to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat, and he is steeped in issues on this side of the Atlantic and Pacific. Mr. Rubio persuaded Mr. Trump during his first term to impose sanctions on Venezuela under the theory that they would destabilize the corrupt regime of Nicolás Maduro. Unfortunately, they didn’t work. Mr. Maduro remains in control. But the Biden administration’s laxer approach also failed. An even larger challenge than the intractable problems in Venezuela are China’s inroads in this hemisphere.Mr. Rubio could help counter Beijing here.

Mr. Rubio could also have a role in administration debates about immigration policy, especially with regard to asylum and refugees. Although he has changed his positions over time, he negotiated a comprehensive bipartisan deal in 2013 that passed the Senate before dying in the House. It would have secured the border and created a path to legal status for millions of people who had entered the country illegally. His willingness to compromise dogged his bid for the presidency but reflected good instincts. 

One of our main concerns about a second Trump presidency remains a potential abandonment of Ukraine. Mr. Rubio was one of 15 Republican senators to vote against the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel this spring. He said recently that the war between Ukraine and Russia has reached a “stalemate” and will end “with a negotiated settlement.”

But there are glimmers of hope. When Mr. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Thursday, he warned him against escalation in Ukraine and reminded him of U.S. troops in Europe, even as he reiterated a desire to bring the conflict to an end. And Mr. Rubio has been clear-eyed about the dangers Mr. Putin poses. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Mr. Rubio partnered with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) to insert an amendment into last year’s defense reauthorization bill that prevents any president from withdrawing from NATO unless two-thirds of the Senate agrees.

In fact, Mr. Rubio has long championed human rights and democracy. When he stood up to powerful lobbyists to shepherd a bill that banned importing Chinese goods made with forced labor, Beijing retaliated by imposing sanctions on Mr. Rubio for a second time. The first time was over his support for Hong Kong’s autonomy. 

Mr. Trump is only beginning to fill his administration’s top ranks. Senators should scrutinize his picks closely — and refuse to surrender their authority to advise and consent on executive branch nominations, as Mr. Trump has demanded, to discourage the president-elect from selecting unfit or extreme candidates. All the more reason for nominees such as Mr. Rubio — barring any new disqualifying information — to get smooth Senate confirmation.