Fighter against dictators yet a proponent of pressure on Kyiv: who is Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State during Trump's administration?

According to media reports, the elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has decided on the nominee for Secretary of State. He will be Florida Senator Marco Rubio. This means that a person often referred to as "Trump's hawk" will be responsible for foreign policy. Rubio is said to be someone who wants to overthrow regimes in Cuba and even China. However, it is also predicted that he will pressure Kyiv and may advocate for a reduction in military aid. What changes can we expect with Rubio stepping into a key role in U.S. foreign policy? The Informator has looked into this issue.

Senator who could become the first Latino Secretary of State

Marco Rubio was born in Miami, but he is of Cuban descent—his parents migrated from Cuba. At the age of 28, he was elected to the House of Representatives in his home state, after which he was re-elected three more times, and in 2006, he became the Speaker.

In 2010, he began his tenure in the Senate and became one of the youngest American senators. It was then that he started being referred to as a "foreign policy hawk" due to his hardline stance on China, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.

For instance, in 2019, Rubio called for a national security review (which did take place) due to a Chinese company acquiring the TikTok platform. Rubio also advocated for banning the sale of Chinese technology from Huawei.

In 2019, he helped persuade Trump to impose stricter sanctions against Venezuela in an attempt to remove its authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, although his idea was not effective. He also supports Israel in its conflict against Hamas and has served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

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However, he was previously Trump's opponent in the 2016 primaries. Trump mocked Rubio, calling him "little Marco," while Rubio labeled Trump as a "fraud" and "the most vulgar person to ever run for president." By 2024, he was one of Trump's candidates for vice president.

Although Trump is unpredictable, sources from Western media say that regarding Rubio, he has firmly made a decision and does not intend to change it. The Secretary of State must be confirmed by Congress, but Trump will have control in both chambers, so there should be no issues with this.

Voted against aid to Ukraine and called for an end to the war

In 2017, Marco Rubio stated that he supports providing Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons. He argued that supporting Kyiv maintains strategic balance and does not escalate the war. On the contrary, weakness opens the door to aggression.

“What happens when there are two neighboring states with a defense imbalance, and one believes it can win an armed conflict against the other? This is an invitation to aggression,” Rubio emphasized.

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In 2018, he took steps against Putin's entourage and addressed Congress with a report on Russian oligarchs and officials involved in Russia's foreign policy. He called for sanctions against them.

“Putin has placed loyal individuals everywhere, whose wealth and quality of life depend on his willingness to allow them to benefit from his rule. These reports will make it clear that there is a group of close oligarchs controlling national wealth through their connections with Putin. They, in turn, are his agents of influence in the world, used for his political and financial goals,” the senator also stated.

However, in April 2024, Rubio was one of 15 Republicans who voted against allocating $61 billion in aid to Ukraine. Recently, he stated that the war in Ukraine has “reached a deadlock” and needs to be “stopped.”

“I am not on Russia's side, but the reality is that the path for Ukraine to end this is negotiations. I want to believe that Trump wants Ukraine to have more leverage,” the senator noted in an interview with NBC in September.

So will there be pressure or assistance for Kyiv?

The New York Times reports that Marco Rubio will support Trump’s plan to pressure Ukraine to find a way to negotiate with Russia and remain outside of NATO. Political scientist Oleksiy Yakubin noted during our communication that Rubio's policy will generally be similar to Trump's own policy.

“He has said that the States must support Ukraine. But considering his recent statements regarding the war, it is likely there will be an attempt to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, among some Republicans, there is a prevailing opinion that the war should be ‘frozen’ along the line of demarcation,” the expert remarked in a comment to the Informator.

In Yakubin's view, there is also a possibility that the issue of Ukraine's NATO membership will be postponed. However, there is also a risk that the supply of weapons may decrease.

“He leans towards Trump's position that aid needs to be reduced. But the U.S. will try to shift additional payments onto the European Union,” the political scientist added.

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A member of the "Servant of the People" faction, MP Maryan Zabolotny, who has previously collaborated with Rubio, states that they will certainly not refuse aid to Ukraine.

“If we are talking about Marco Rubio, he is a person who will support an anti-Russian stance overall,” the politician emphasized in a comment to the Informator.

Rubio wants to overthrow regimes connected to the Russian Federation

The focus of the next Secretary of State may indeed shift towards China, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. These are countries regarding which Rubio has a tough stance (he is of Cuban descent himself). However, there is a connection here—these countries share a common enemy with us, as they are allies of Russia. For instance, these Latin American states are used by the Kremlin to create an artificial migration crisis at the U.S. border.

“Rubio is anti-Russian and anti-communist. He has attempted to impose sanctions against regimes that are very close to Russia, specifically for their cooperation with Russia. Rubio has also advocated for funding American weapons for democratic countries in Latin America in exchange for them giving their old weapons to Ukrainians,” said Maryan Zabolotny during his conversation with the Informator.

According to the MP, Rubio's main goal as Secretary of State will be to liberate states from totalitarian regimes. The Cuban regime, as Zabolotny pointed out, sends mercenaries to fight against Ukraine. Currently, the Ukrainian side is actively working diplomatically to show how Moscow collaborates with other regimes.

“I have actively participated in highlighting this issue. And thanks to this, Marco Rubio is aware of it,” the MP added.