Marco Rubio: America’s nominee for top diplomat, in his own words

With the approval of the US Senate, America’s next top diplomat is likely to be Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Rubio, who was nominated for the role of secretary of state by President-Elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, has experience serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and speaking out about international conflicts during his Senate tenure.

The Florida senator is considered a foreign policy “hawk” – meaning someone who takes hard-line positions – towards Iran as well as China.

But where exactly does he stand on major global issues? Hear from Rubio, who would be the first Latino secretary of state, in his own words.

Rubio has long urged a swift conclusion to the two-year-plus war between Russia and Ukraine.

“We do want to see that conflict end, and it’s going to require some very difficult choices,” Rubio said earlier this month.

In the past, Rubio called it “hyperbole to believe that the Ukrainians are going to completely crush the Russian military”.

He voted against the $6 billion military aid package for Ukraine earlier this year.

“I think the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave and strong in standing up to Russia,” he said earlier this month.

“But at the end of the day, what we are funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion, or that country is going to be set back 100 years.”

Beyond the conflict itself, Rubio said he is worried the conflict distracts from other problems brewing around the world.

“The future of the 21st century is going to largely be defined by what happens in the Indo-Pacific,” Rubio said earlier this week. “And I think China would love for us to be bogged down in Europe in a conflict and not focused on what’s happening in the Indo-Pacific.”

Rubio has expressed hard line positions in many regions of the world, but nowhere is that more true than in China.

China is “the largest, most advanced adversary America has ever faced,” he said in a September Washington Post opinion piece.

When discussing Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” plan, which attempts to upgrade its manufacturing sector, Rubio called for the US to create a new industrial policy to stop China from “eclipsing the United States entirely in the decade that follows”.

“The bottom line is that U.S. policymakers cannot afford to be complacent about the largest, most advanced adversary America has ever faced,” Rubio wrote.

He also strongly defended Taiwan’s independence.

“Communist China is not, and will never be, a friend to democratic nations,” Rubio wrote on X, formerly Twitter, over the summer. “The international community must continue to stand with Taiwan as they defend their sovereignty and freedom.”

Rubio is against a ceasefire in Gaza. When asked by activists on Capitol Hill if he would support ending fighting there, he firmly said no.

“On the contrary … I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on,” Rubio said. “These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes.”

Israel’s intention with its fighting, Rubio said, is “to destroy the terrorist organization so it may never threaten the people of Israel again”.

He also recently criticised Canada’s decision to accept Palestinian war refugees. He claimed “terrorists and known criminals continue to stream across US land borders, including from Canada.”

Rubio calls Iran a “terrorist” regime.

He urged Israel to respond to Iran with force following attacks earlier this year. In a statement, Rubio cited Israel’s “right to respond disproportionately to stop this threat”.

“Israel should respond to Iran the way the U.S. would respond if some country launched 180 missiles at us,” Rubio wrote on social media.

“And they should do in Lebanon what we would be demanding our leaders do if terrorists were launching anti-tank rockets at us from a neighboring country, forcing 60000 Americans to evacuate their homes and farms for almost a year.”

Before being tapped for the position of secretary of state, Rubio said a Trump administration would be “very clear and very firm” in dealing with Iran. He also said the Biden administration treated Iran like “Belgian diplomats at the United Nations”.