US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Sen Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State, The New York Times and other US news outlets have reported citing sources. Rubio, the 53-yearold Republican Senator from Florida has been tapped for the position the US daily said on Monday (local time) citing three people familiar with Trump's thinking. Following his win over Democratic candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump is moving to fill out his foreign policy and national security team ahead of his formal inauguration in January 2025.
Trump had considered choosing Rubio as his running mate earlier this year. Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010, and has staked out a position as a foreign policy hawk, taking hard lines on China and Iran in particular as per the New York Times. CNN reported that Trump set his sights on Rubio after initially favouring former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell for the job.
Previously Rubio had said that he believed a Trump administration would broker "a negotiated settlement" to end the war in Ukraine. Rubio and Trump were bitter rivals in 2016 when they were both competing for the Republican party's presidential primaries. Rubio had then called Trump a "con artist" while the president-elect liked to call the former "Little Marco.
" Born to Cuban immigrants in Miami, Rubio holds a political science degree from the University of Florida. He was elected to the US Senate as senator for Florida in 2010 after serving .