Rubio to be Secretary of State, as Trump meets Biden in Oval Office

Donald Trump rounds out his national security team by nominating Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and Matt Gaetz as his next Attorney-General after meeting Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump has announced Marco Rubio as his nomination for Secretary of State after the President-elect met with Joe Biden in the Oval Office and addressed House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington where he remarked “isn’t it nice to win?”

The nomination of Senator Rubio as Secretary of State rounds out Mr Trump’s national security team and is widely seen as an indicator that Beijing will be a central focus of his foreign policy agenda over the next four years.

With the President and President-elect agreeing to uphold a peaceful transition of power on Wednesday morning, Mr Trump said a short time later that it was his “great honour to announce that Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be the United States Secretary of State.”

He described Senator Rubio as a “very powerful Voice for Freedom.”

“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Mr Trump said.

Senator Rubio said that leading the State Department was a “tremendous responsibility” and he was “honoured by the trust President Trump has placed in me.”
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda … We will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else.”

Both Senator Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are seen as China hawks, with

Senator Rubio calling China the “threat that will define this century” while Mr Waltz referred, in 2021, to the US being “in a Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party.”

In further appointments made on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), Mr Trump revealed that former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard – now a Republican – would serve as his director of national intelligence, saying she had “fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans” for more than two decades.

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican! I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength,” Mr Trump said.

The President-elect also nominated Florida congressman Matt Gaetz on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to be the next Attorney-General of the United States – a position that Mr Trump views as being of critical importance.

In his statement, Mr Trump said that “few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan weaponisation of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponised Government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organisations and restore Americas’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr Trump said that Mr Gaetz had played a “key role in defeating the . Russia hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponisation. He is a Champion for the Constitution and Rule of Law.”

Meeting Mr Biden in Oval Office earlier in the day where the President congratulated him on his election victory, Mr Trump declared that “politics is tough.”

“In many cases it’s not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today,” Mr Trump said.

The President-elect said the transition would be “as smooth as it can get” and appreciated the warm words from Mr Biden.

Mr Trump began the day by addressing House Republicans, with Elon Musk captured sitting among them as he listened to the President-elect. Mr Trump was in a good mood, cracked jokes and acknowledged the party was on track to win a narrow majority.

“Are you looking at five or four?” Mr Trump said. “Doesn’t matter. We got used to one for a little while. When you can get used to one, you can get used to anything. I just want to thank everybody. You’ve been incredible.”

“This is a very nice gathering. Isn’t it nice to win,” he said. “It’s always nice to win. A lot of good friends in this room.”

Mr Trump noted that he won all seven key swing states and nearly picked-up New Jersey, arguing that it was now possible for the party achieve victories in states that weren’t previously seen as winnable.

Republican senators also used a secret-ballot to elect minority whip, John Thune, as their new leader to take over from Mitch McConnell. Sources told Fox News that no-one reached a majority in the first round of voting.

Rick Scott from Florida received the least amount of votes and was knocked out of the race, leaving Senator Thune from South Dakota to battle out the contest with John Cornyn from Texas.

After winning the ballot, Senator Thune said he was “honoured to serve as the next US Senate majority leader” and spoke over the phone with Mr Trump.

“I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” he said in a statement. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”

He also posted on social media platform X that Senate Republicans were “excited and ready to get to work implementing President Trump’s agenda on behalf of the American people.”

Mr Trump said that Senator Thune would “do an outstanding job” and looked forward to “working with him, and Senators John Barrasso (Senate Majority Whip), Tom Cotton (Senate Republican Conference Chairman), James Lankford (Republican Conference Vice Chairman), and Tim Scott (National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman) to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

https://t.co/gZgn50AWYipic.twitter.com/ieUTiYW6bG

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) November 12, 2024

A number of other announcement were made by Mr Trump relating to his White House senior staff, including Dan Scavino returning as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff.

Mr Scavino – a key member of Mr Trump’s inner circle – made headlines after he tweeted an image of an hourglass in response to Australian ambassador Kevin Rudd’s message of congratulations to Mr Trump after his November 5 election victory.

The image is widely being seen as an escalation on the US side about Dr Rudd’s suitability as Australia’s ambassador in Washington – although two former Australian ambassadors to Washington stood by Dr Rudd.

Mr Richardson told The Australian that “it would be highly unusual for a government to withdraw an ambassador prior to a president being sworn in.”

“You would be essentially making yourself subservient to that incoming president,” Mr Richardson said.

Mr Richardson also rejected the idea the incoming Trump administration was using Australia as a test case to make an example of critical foreign diplomats, arguing the issue of Dr Rudd’s viability was “initiated and actively pursued a single news outlet in Sky.”

Mr Sinodinos also said: “My view is that the government (in Australia) should continue to support Kevin as the ambassador.”

“Kevin has got to prioritise mending the fence with Trump’s inner circle and make them understand that whatever was said in the past, he is now singularly focused on the Australian/American relationship being taken forward in a positive way in light of the election result in the US,” Mr Sinodinos said.

Other senior White House staff selections included Stephen Miller. Mr Miller was appointed as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security.

In addition, James Blair was announced as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislation, Political and Public Affairs.

Taylor Budowich was appointed as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel.

Mr Trump said these appointments represented the “best in class” advisers on his winning campaign and that all of them would work hard to “Make America Great Again.”