Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he is staying put as speculation swirls about his 2028 ambitions, which he declined to address.
The top US diplomat and national security adviser dismissed reports by multiple outlets Thursday indicating he is eyeing an exit from the Trump administration – to potentially prepare to launch a presidential bid – in the wake of the brutal midterm elections for the GOP.
Rubio told the New York Times that working for President Trump for the duration of his second term has “always been my plan.”
“I don’t know where these things come from, to be honest with you,” he said of the reports.
“I love the work I’m doing,” Rubio added. “And plus I always laugh when they say he’s going to leave his job. I go, ‘Which one?’”
White House and State Department officials were equally adamant that Rubio isn’t leaving his post.
Bloomberg News reported that Rubio has discussed the possibility of stepping down with White House officials and that he and his advisers are going over future options.
“This fake news is nothing more than a fabricated hoax being peddled by anonymous sources with no factual information,” White House spokesperson Beni Rae Harmony said in a statement. “Secretary Rubio is a fearless fighter for President Trump and the MAGA movement.”
Meanwhile, GOP sources and UK government figures told The Independent they view Rubio as the leading candidate to succeed President Trump and expect the secretary of state to resign in an effort to “distance himself from the Iran war.”
Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson called the report “completely baseless fake news from made-up anonymous ‘sources.’”
“We look forward to revisiting this ‘report’ in the coming weeks to celebrate yet another humiliating own goal by The Independent,” Johnson added.
Rubio, who was defeated by Trump in the 2016 presidential primary, is indeed viewed as a serious future GOP presidential contender but has unfinished business at the State Department and isn’t expected to depart anytime soon, multiple sources told The Post.
The former senator’s plan from day one of the Trump administration was to stay on board all four years, according to a senior administration official.
Rubio has even said he won’t take a vacation, the official noted, only halfway joking.
Inside the corridors of the West Wing, Rubio remains a power player.
He has an office next to Vice President JD Vance and a powerful ally in chief of staff Susie Wiles, whom he’s known for years as they both rose in Florida Republican politics.
If it ever came down to a choice between Vance and Rubio, Wiles would pick Rubio, say those that know them.
Wearing the double hat of secretary of state and national security adviser, Rubio is in the room for every national security conversation, alongside Wiles and Vance. The trio have a good working relationship and are often in lockstep.
He spends most of his work time in the West Wing, knowing in this White House, proximity to Trump is the proximity to power.
Another factor that may keep Rubio from leaving the administration is that his foreign policy goals have yet to be accomplished: the main one being Cuba.
The son of Cuban immigrants, his longtime goal has been to see the island rid itself of its communist regime, which Trump has hinted he could do.
Rubio wouldn’t be expected to depart until his family’s homeland is free.
“The midterms blew up Vance’s [2028 prospects] and Rubio’s stock is soaring,” Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor, said. “I don’t think he can go home to Miami until he’s toppled the regime in Cuba.”
Eberhart and other sources noted Vance, who is also the Republican National Committee’s finance chair, can raise money from 2028 on the job, while Rubio cannot, due to the constraints on political activities a secretary of state can engage in.
“I guarantee you, the moment Marco would say, ‘I’m going to resign and I want to run,’ he’ll raise so much money it would make your head spin,” another Florida GOP source said.
The source noted Rubio has been clear he’ll stand back if Vance is in for 2028, but said the disastrous midterms had put Vance in a “pickle — to put it lightly” and intensified calls for Rubio to jump in the fray.
“My guess is that he’ll be president one day, whether it’s before JD or after,” a Republican operative close to the White House said.
However, a top Republican strategist indicated that waiting for 2032 if Vance runs and loses in 2028 “has always been his plan.”
“He was already not gonna run, but after Tuesday night there is zero chance he’s gonna run — like less than zero,” the source said.
In his interview with the New York Times, Rubio declined to answer questions about his possible 2028 plans.
“I literally will not talk about 2028 anymore,” he said. “I just won’t do it.”
Rubio is slated to deliver his first major speech post-midterms next Friday at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention in Washington, DC.
