Donald Trump set to pick Marco Rubio as secretary of state, selects Mike Waltz as national security adviser
If Marco Rubio becomes secretary of state, he will become the first Latino to take the top US diplomatic post while Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, will co-ordinate America’s top security agencies as national security adviser.
Donald Trump is expected to ask Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, according to US media, and has selected Mike Waltz, a former general and Green Beret veteran, to be his White House national security adviser
If Mr Rubio, a US Senator, accepts the role, he will become the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat.
Mr Trump could change his mind on the Rubio move, as he remains fond of others lobbying for the secretary of state role, the Wall St Journal reports. But people familiar with the Rubio decision said that Trump feels good about going with him, who he had once considered for the vice president slot, according to the WSJ.
Spokespeople for the Trump transition and Rubio didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The 53-year-old recently supported Mr Trump over Russia’s war with Ukraine, saying the conflict “needs to be brought to a conclusion.”
Mr Rubio has been consistently named over the last week as one of the frontrunners to head US diplomacy, along with the abrasive former ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell.
Asked if he was destined for a senior cabinet job, Mr Rubio told CNN last week, “I always am interested in serving this country.”
The nomination of the hawkish congressman, who has Cuban heritage, would cap a remarkable turnaround in his relations with Mr Trump.
In 2016, when they were competing for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr Rubio called Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.” Born to Cuban immigrants in Miami, he 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.
Mr Trump also asked foreign policy hawk Mr Waltz, who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa, to be his White House national security adviser, the Wall St Journal reports.
Mr Walz has been a critic of Joe Biden’s foreign policy and serves on the House Armed Services Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Intelligence Committee.
Mr Walz comes to the role amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, with Iran threatening to attack Israel before the inauguration and Joe Biden promising to spend the $61bn in military assistance his administration had promised Kyiv before Mr Trump becomes president.
In an opinion piece for FoxNews.com last year, Mr Walz argued that “the era of Ukraine’s blank cheque from Congress is over.”
This month, he told NPR that Mr Trump’s vow to negotiate between Ukraine and Russia is “perfectly reasonable” and said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t cooperate, the US had “leverage, like taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons we provided Ukraine as well.”
The appointments come as the president-elect’s new cabinet starts to take shape with the appointment of Tom Homan as the nation’s new “border tsar” with responsibility for the deportations of illegal migrants, the selection of Elise Stefanik as America’s next ambassador to the UN and the appointment of Lee Zeldon to the Environment Protection Agency.
Mr Homan – who was a contributor to the immigration reforms proposed in Project 2025’s hard right policy blueprint – has previously served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when Mr Trump was last in power and his appointment was widely expected.
He said on Monday that Democratic-run states and cities should co-operate with efforts to deport undocumented migrants instead of trying to “make it hard for us”, pledging to double the number of agents to remove illegal aliens if required.
The President-elect announced the appointment late on Sunday night, declaring on his Truth Social platform that Mr Holman would be joining the Trump Administration to take responsibility for the nation’s borders “including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security.”
“Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” Mr Trump said. “I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job.”
Speaking to Fox News on Monday morning (Tuesday AEDT), Mr Homan said he was looking forward to solving a “national security crisis” and reflected on how he was “pissed off about what this administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” he said. “This is the second time I’ve come out of retirement for this president.”
Mr Homan, a former ICE agent, said that he would be proposing new “worksite operations” because most victims of sex and forced labour trafficking were found at worksites – including children who had been stolen from their families.
“Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority,” he said. “This administration has lost over 300,000 children. They were smuggled into this country by criminal cartels … we need to save these children and get them back to their families.”
He also took aim at “sanctuary cities” – townships in the US that have laws aimed at protecting illegal migrants from deportation or prosecution – describing them as “sanctuaries for criminals.”
“If you’re not going to help us, get the hell out of the way because we’re going to do it. If we can’t get assistance from New York City … we may have to double the number of agents we have to send into New York City. Because we are going to do the job without you or with you.”
Mr Trump hopes his plan to secure the southern border will prevent the number of migrants arriving in New York City, with more than 200,000 having come since 2022. The New York Times reported on Sunday that the city had spent more than $5bn to shelter migrants in hotels and new facilities on Randall’s Island and in Flod Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
The President-elect also tapped Elise Stefanik – the fourth ranking House-Republican from New York and key political ally – as his next ambassador to the UN, declaring that she was an “incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”
The chair of the House Republican Conference since 2021, Ms Stefanik drew national and international attention after she questioned university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. She asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would constitute bullying or harassment, but received only heavily qualified answers.
She has also been critical of the UN itself following the events of October 7 2023 and supports “supplying the state of Israel with what it needs, when it needs it, without conditions, to achieve total victory in the face of evil.”
Ms Stefanik takes on the role at a time of great global uncertainty, including over the approach Mr Trump will take to the Ukraine and Russian conflict in Eastern Europe after previously boasting he could end the war within a day.
Mr Trump also decided to appoint Lee Zeldin as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, posting on Truth Social that the former New York congressman had a “very strong legal background” and was a “true fighter for America First policies.”
“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the plant.”
“He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way. I have known Lee Zeldin for a long time, and have watched him handle, brilliantly, some extremely difficult and complex situations. I am very proud to have him in the Trump Administration.”
Mr Zeldin represented New York’s first congressional district from 2015-2023 and, in 2022, and was also the Republican nominee for New York governor in 2022.
Mr Trump rated his performance in that contest as a key reason for why the Republicans were able, in 2024, to flip “multiple suburban House districts in New York, resulting in the Republican Party’s majority in the House of Representatives.”
Mr Zeldin is one of two Jewish Republicans in congress and co-chaired the House Republican Israel Caucus.
The announcement also shows that Mr Trump has begun his cabinet selections with the smaller appointments first, with anticipation building over who will fill the key positions of secretary of state, defence secretary, national security adviser and treasury secretary.
With Dow Jones, AFP
More Coverage
‘Let Trump be Trump’: Opponents happy to let him crash and burn
The US president-elect has outlined an ambitious agenda, but his opponents are aware he is prone to ignoring the possible downsides of his rhetoric, decisions and policies.
Carter’s post-presidency achievements make him great
The arguments over his presidency will continue. Good, bad or mediocre – it’s a matter of opinion but in his 43 years of service after his time ran out in the White House, Jimmy Carter, a good man driven by his profound Christian belief, became great.