Donald Trump has officially nominated Sen. Marco Rubio, a one-time political rival and foreign policy hawk who has taken a tough approach toward China, as his next Secretary of State.

“Marco is a very respected leader and a very strong 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 from our adversaries,” Trump said in a statement.

Who is Marco Rubio?

Marco Rubio, one of the foreign policy hawks, was first elected in 2010 and is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

In 2016, he was one of Trump’s opponents in the race for the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate, while during the primaries they clashed fiercely.

Rubio is known for his tough stances on Iran and China, and a supporter of imposing tariffs on the Asian giant. In fact, Beijing in 2020 proceeded with sanctions against him, which until now has not been lifted.

Rubio is the son of working-class Cuban immigrants and is credited with helping the campaign reach Hispanic voters.

Critic of Turkey

Marco Rubio has been a vocal critic of Turkey’s policies in Syria and elsewhere.

Analysts say his influence on US foreign policy could complicate Erdogan’s agenda, which relies heavily on a transactional approach to diplomacy and a personal relationship with Trump.

Rubio has criticized the Erdogan administration for cracking down on dissidents. In a 2021 letter co-authored with Democratic Sen. Menendez, Rubio along with 54 other US senators condemned Turkey for the country’s human rights record, specifically endorsing self-imposed former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who he is known for his staunch stance against Erdogan and is wanted by Ankara on terrorism charges.

The letter also strongly condemned Turkey’s actions against Kurdish groups in Syria, which the US has supported in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Rubio strongly supports Israel in the war on Gaza

The senator has repeatedly voiced his support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s attacks on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and has accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to support its ally.

He has described Israel’s war on Gaza, waged in response to Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, as “justice” as it seeks to “destroy the terrorist organization so that it can never again threaten the people of Israel.

A month into the war, Rubio said he would not call for a ceasefire, “on the contrary… I want them to destroy every element of Hamas. These people are vicious animals who committed horrible crimes.” It has condemned decisions by some Western allies to suspend or limit arms exports to Israel over concerns about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

After the State Department sanctioned Israeli entities in August for their involvement in “extremist settler violence” in the West Bank, Rubio said the US State Department was “undermining” a US ally. “Israelis rightfully living in their historic homeland are not an obstacle to peace, the Palestinians are,” he wrote in a letter to Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken.

More aggressive approach against Iran

Rubio has called Tehran a “terrorist regime” and in February pointed out that the “emerging rise of an axis” led by China, Russia and Iran is the biggest geopolitical threat to the United States.

In a statement on Oct. 1, after Iran had launched a barrage of missiles against Israel, Rubio said he supported Israel’s “right to respond disproportionately to stop this threat,” without specifying what that might entail.

“Without Iran, there is no Hamas. Without Iran, there is no Hezbollah. Without Iran, there are no Shiite militias attacking us in Iraq and Syria,” Rubio said in a televised interview.

He then stressed that a Trump administration would be “very clear and very firm” in dealing with Iran and accused the White House of treating Tehran like “Belgian diplomats at the United Nations”.

Rubio predicts ‘hard choices’ to end Russia-Ukraine war

Rubio has repeatedly characterized Russia’s war in Ukraine as a costly stalemate that is in Washington’s best interest to resolve quickly, though he has not expanded on what a negotiated settlement would look like. “We want to see this conflict end and some very difficult choices will be required,” he said in an interview.

He praised Ukraine’s efforts to defend against a stronger adversary as “excellent” but added that “it is also too much to think that the Ukrainians will completely crush the Russian military” and that the goal should be to help Ukraine “so that it does not we are seen as untrustworthy undermining our credibility. However, it has to be done in a way that doesn’t exhaust us.”

Rubio also played down the broader importance of European geopolitics to Washington’s core interests, saying US involvement in Ukraine’s self-defense is a costly distraction from efforts to contain China. “The future of the 21st century will be largely determined by what happens in the Indo-Pacific. And I think China would love for us to be in Europe in a conflict and not focus on what’s going on in the Indo-Pacific,” Rubio said in the interview.

NATO must be a ‘real alliance’

Rubio has also echoed Trump’s wariness of military spending on Europe’s defense, saying it’s unfair for Washington to foot the bill while European countries spend money on “massive social safety nets.”