Florida senator Marco Rubio makes a remarkable political turnaround

The hawkish senator with Cuban heritage once called Donald Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency”.

Once were enemies: Donald Trump greets senator Marco Rubio during a campaign rally at the J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on November 4, 2024. Picture: AFP.

The nomination of Florida senator Marco Rubio as Donald Trump’s secretary of state would cap a remarkable turnaround in his relations with the president-elect.

In 2016, when they were competing for the Republican presidential nomination, the hawkish senator with Cuban heritage called Mr Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency”.

Mr Trump belittled him as “Little Marco” and mocked him for sweating and wearing heavy make-up during TV appearances.

Senator Rubio, 53, first made his name in foreign policy as a ­vociferous opponent of Cuba and its leftist allies in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.

He has since become one of the most outspoken senators against Beijing, viewing the Asian power as a major threat to US interests.

He has sought to make it more difficult for Chinese companies to operate in the US and has led congressional efforts to punish Beijing on human rights grounds over its treatment of the Uighur minority.

Compared with Mr Trump, he offers a more traditional US approach to foreign policy.

After Mr Trump spoke during his campaign about Taiwan needing to pay “protection” money to Washington, Senator Rubio spoke out in favour of the self-governing democracy and predicted that a second Trump administration would support its defence against China.

Born to Cuban immigrants in Miami, Senator Rubio graduated with a political science degree from the University of Florida in 1993.

He was elected to the US Senate in 2010 with his campaign buoyed by the Tea Party, a far-right contingent of Republicans that coalesced in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s election as president.

He would become a key architect of Mr Trump’s second-term “America First” foreign policy, with Mr Trump having promised to end the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East and avoid any more American military entanglements overseas.

Fellow Florida senator Rick Scott sent congratulations to Senator Rubio in a message on X: “He will restore American leadership around the world, especially in Latin America, as he represents the US with dignity and courage!”

AFP