A week after the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump is wasting no time building his new cabinet and staff. He’s already stocking his administration with familiar Florida names.
His first appointment was longtime campaign manager Susie Wiles for the new White House Chief of Staff, followed by U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz as his national security adviser.
The president-elect confirmed Wednesday that he’ll nominate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, to serve as secretary of state in his next administration.
Though Rubio and Trump have history dating back to 2016 − when the former president issued the nickname “Little Marco” − the political pair have patched things up. Before choosing Sen. JD Vance, Trump had considered Rubio as his vice presidential pick.
Rubio, a Cuban American who has deep foreign policy experience, would be the first Latino to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.
There are other reasons people may be familiar with Rubio: Over the years, he’s gone viral thanks to a water bottle and made a name for getting rid of daylight saving time.
Here’s what we know about Marco Rubio.
Did Trump pick Marco Rubio as secretary of state?
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, a week after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, he confirmed Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, as his pick for U.S. Secretary of State.
“It is my Great Honor to announce that Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The United States Secretary of State,” Trump said in a prepared statement. “Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful 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 to our adversaries. I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!”
Rubio is currently the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A Cuban American, Rubio would be the first Latino person to serve as secretary of state.
“Leading the U.S. Department of State is a tremendous responsibility, and I am honored by the trust President Trump has placed in me,” Rubio said in a statement. “As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump, we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else. I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate so the President has his national security and foreign policy team in place when he takes office on January 20.”
Who is Marco Rubio?
Florida’s senior senator, Marco Antonio Rubio, 53, has been a member of the Senate since 2011 and was a Florida state representative and served as House Speaker before that.
Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, Rubio lived in Nevada with his family for three years but they returned to Florida where he attended South Miami Senior High School. He had a football scholarship to Tarkio College in Missouri but left after a year for then-named Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville. Rubio has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law.
After finishing law school, Rubio was elected to a city commissioner seat in West Miami and became a member of the Florida House of Representatives two years after that, campaigning as a moderate. He was reelected four more times while practicing law for a Miami firm. He was named the House Republican Leader in 2002 and became Speaker in 2005.
In 2010, Rubio beat out then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the Republican Senate nomination and won. In 2023, Rubio was ranked as Florida’s most effective Congressional lawmaker.
Rubio launched a presidential bid in 2016 but consistently lost to Trump in the primaries and finally suspended his campaign after coming in second in Florida.
Rubio has gradually leaned more into MAGA territory over the years and was a finalist in Trump’s 2024 vice president list, although Trump ultimately tapped JD Vance.
According to a USA TODAY video, Rubio once pushed a bill that would have granted citizenship to undocumented immigrants.
He wrote the book “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future” and taught politics at Florida International University.
Rubio is married to Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, and they have four children. The family lives in West Miami.
What does ‘Little Marco’ mean? Did Marco Rubio insult Donald Trump?
During the 2016 presidential primary, Rubio resisted personal attacks for the first part of his campaign but came out swinging later on, calling Trump a “con artist” saying he was “wholly unprepared to be president of the United States” and even slyly suggesting Trump was not well-endowed, among other things.
In turn, Trump called him “Little Marco,” mocked him for being robotic and called him a “clown” and a “lightweight.” However, like many other GOP leaders that Trump has mocked, Rubio endorsed Trump afterward and has supported his initiatives since.
He also denounced the case against Trump for hush money payments to an adult movie star as “a sham political show trial like the ones Communists used against their political opponents in Cuba and the Soviet Union” and joined seven of the most MAGA-aligned senators in signing a pledge not to confirm any of President Joe Biden’s political or judicial appointments or help Democrats advance non-security related federal funding increases or expedited Democratic bills.
Who will replace Marco Rubio as Florida senator?
If Trump picks Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis gets to choose his temporary replacement in the Senate.
That person would hold the seat until 2026, when a special election would be held for the final two years of Rubio’s current term.
Speculation on potential replacements has included DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier, Lt. Governor Jeanette Nuñez, State Attorney Ashley Moody, former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva, DeSantis’ wife Casey, or even DeSantis himself.
Trump and his allies could pressure DeSantis to name a successor of their choosing. Supporters have already floated the name of Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a Florida resident and co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
What does the secretary of state do?
The U.S. Secretary of State is the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and carries out the president’s foreign policies, according to the U.S. Department of State. Duties and responsibilities include:
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Conducts negotiations relating to U.S. foreign affairs
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Grants and issues passports to American citizens and exequaturs to foreign consuls in the U.S.
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Advises the President on the appointment of U.S. ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other diplomatic representatives
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Advises the President regarding the acceptance, recall, and dismissal of the representatives of foreign governments
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Personally participates in or directs U.S. representatives to international conferences, organizations, and agencies
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Negotiates, interprets, and terminates treaties and agreements
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Ensures the protection of the U.S. Government to American citizens, property, and interests in foreign countries
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Supervises the administration of U.S. immigration laws abroad
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Provides information to American citizens regarding the political, economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian conditions in foreign countries
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Informs the Congress and American citizens on the conduct of U.S. foreign relations
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Promotes beneficial economic intercourse between the United States and other countries
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Administers the Department of State
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Supervises the Foreign Service of the United States
Did Marco Rubio get rid of daylight saving time in Florida? What is the Sunshine Protection Act?
The Sunshine Protection Act, which is a proposed federal law, hasn’t gotten approval from the U.S. House of Representatives or the president, but was proposed during several congressional sessions over the last few years and was OK’d by the U.S. Senate in 2023.
The Sunshine Protection Act would permanently extend daylight saving time from eight months of the year to the full 12 months. The bill was first introduced in March 2018 by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida and Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key. The pair reintroduced the bill, along with other sponsors, in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
The bill would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S., but so far, the measure has not yet been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, nor has it been signed into law by President Biden.
Despite their efforts for daylight saving time, Florida still fell back this year and will spring forward in 2025.
Marco Rubio and water bottle: Why did Marco Rubio go viral for being thirsty?
On Feb. 13, 2013, Sen. Marco Rubio stopped his response to President Obama’s State of the Union so he could take a sip of water. The brief pause lit up social media, generating several memes and lots of fodder for talk shows the day after.
Interestingly, in November 2017, Donald Trump sipping water brought back a lot of memes from Rubio’s viral “water bottle moment.” According to a USA TODAY video, social media lit up again when then-President Trump awkwardly took a sip of water during a press conference. For many, it was a throwback to Rubio’s “awkward reach for water” in 2013.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Secretary of state Trump pick is Marco Rubio. About Florida senator
