ISTANBUL

The US Senate voted on Monday to confirm Senator Marco Rubio as the nation’s new secretary of state, making him the first official in Donald Trump's administration to be approved since his return to the White House.

The vote, just hours after Trump’s swearing-in, was unanimous.

Rubio will take the post amid multiple global crises and conflicts, including Russia’s war against Ukraine as well as ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon involving Israel.  

Background, policy stances

Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida since 2011, garnered bipartisan support for his nomination, with Senate Democrats praising his qualifications. Once a Trump rival, Rubio has since become an ally and will now take on a significant role in Trump’s new administration.

Rubio, who ran for president in 2016 before dropping out and endorsing Trump, was also considered for Trump's 2024 vice presidential shortlist, according to media reports.

Following his failed 2016 Republican Party presidential bid, Rubio bolstered his foreign policy expertise as the top Republican on the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, fostering bipartisan relationships.

Poised to become the first Latino secretary of state, he is firmly against normalizing ties with Cuba, the communist-ruled island some 145 kilometers (90 miles) from Florida, and is known for his hard-line stance on China, Iran, and Venezuela. Florida has a large Cuban American community, one fiercely opposed to the island’s communist government.

He is also a staunch supporter of Israel, and has consistently adopted hard-line positions. Earlier this year, he accused President Joe Biden of appealing to antisemites in the Democratic Party by criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged the administration to revoke visas for foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, labeling them "terrorist sympathizers."

Following an Iranian missile attack on Israel last October, he encouraged a strong Israeli response.

Rubio’s nomination was warmly received by Senate Democrats, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praising him during his confirmation hearing as “well-qualified.”  

NATO, Ukraine war

He affirmed his strong support for NATO, citing a bipartisan law he co-sponsored which states that the US cannot leave the alliance without Senate approval or congressional action, a stance differing from that of Trump, known as a NATO-skeptic. Rubio also stressed the importance of taking a firm stance on China, calling the Chinese Communist Party a “potent” and “dangerous” adversary.

“They’re a technological adversary and competitor, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor now, in every realm, it’s an extraordinary challenge and one that I believe will define the 21st century,” he said.

“We’ve allowed them to get away with things, and frankly the Chinese did what any country in the world would do given these opportunities, they took advantage of it, so now we’re dealing with the ramifications of it.”

On Russia’s war in Ukraine, Rubio called it “unrealistic” for Ukraine to fully reclaim territory lost since the February 2022 invasion but stressed that the US should prioritize ending the war. (Trump previously promised to end the war just after taking office.)

Rubio noted his alignment with Trump on the need for a resolution and criticized the Biden administration for lacking a clear “end goal.”

“What (Russian President) Vladimir Putin has done is unacceptable, there’s no doubt about it, but this war has to end, and I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end,” he added.

Last week, Rubio testified that both Russia and Ukraine must make concessions to resolve the conflict. He voted against $95 billion in Ukraine aid in April and has called on Ukraine to negotiate a peace deal with Russia.

The Biden administration opposed pushing Kyiv to negotiate a deal, saying such a decision must come from Ukraine itself.

Trump himself is widely expected to cut or entirely eliminate aid to Ukraine.