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Trump says whenever he has a problem, he calls up Marco, “he gets it solved”.<\/p>\n
Top diplomat, foreign aid chief, national archivist and now national security adviser, Marco Rubio\u2019s expanding resume underscores US President Donald Trump\u2019s increasing trust in the former Florida senator, officials said.<\/p>\n
Trump said on Thursday that his national security adviser Mike Waltz would move on to become UN ambassador, weeks after Waltz added a journalist from The Atlantic<\/em> to a Signal chat where top officials were discussing military strikes<\/a> against the Houthis in Yemen.<\/p>\n In his place, Trump named Rubio as his top national security aide on an interim basis, the latest instance of the president turning to the man he once disparaged as Little Marco and labelled a con artist to take on crucial tasks in his administration.<\/p>\n Rubio will lead the council that coordinates the administrations national security<\/a> actions around the world. Trump did not indicate when a permanent replacement would be named.<\/p>\n The reshuffle comes amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine, restore a failed ceasefire in Gaza and conduct complex nuclear talks with Iran, all while managing the diplomatic fallout from Trumps trade war with China.<\/p>\n A senior US official said Rubio has built trust with Trump by carrying out whatever tasks Trump hands to him. He\u2019s done everything that Trump has asked him to do, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t you trust him?\u201d, NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters<\/em> that Rubio had implemented Trump\u2019s America First agenda and was \u201cwell qualified\u201d to oversee the council.<\/p>\n A US official told Reuters<\/em> that Trump is fine with maintaining the new arrangement \u2014 Rubio serving as both secretary of state and national security adviser \u2014 indefinitely.<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, Politico<\/em> reported that Rubio is expected to hold the two roles for a minimum of six months.<\/p>\n Early on, Rubio was sent to Panama<\/a> to put Trump\u2019s promise to \u201ctake back\u201d the Panama Canal in more diplomatic terms.<\/p>\n In March, after an Oval Office blowup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump dispatched Rubio to Saudi Arabia<\/a>, where he helped bring his effort toward peace between Ukraine and Russia back on track.<\/p>\n Rubio has also played a leading role in Trumps controversial crackdown on migration<\/a> to the US, securing an agreement to send alleged gang members to a high-security prison in El Salvador, and revoking thousands of student visas<\/a>, in many cases after the students took part in anti-Israel protests.<\/p>\n Above all, Rubio has vociferously argued for Trumps agenda, even when it clashed with his own previous positions.<\/p>\n As a US senator, Rubio championed foreign assistance around the world. Under Trump, Rubio has overseen the dismantling of Washington\u2019s main aid agency, and proudly defended the decision to do so.<\/p>\n At a Rose Garden event on Thursday, Trump thanked Rubio for his unbelievable work. \u201cWhen I have a problem, I call up Marco,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe gets it solved.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not unprecedented for one official to hold multiple roles at the same time. Henry Kissinger served as both Secretary of State and national security adviser in the 1970s.<\/p>\n But Rubio\u2019s current workload raises questions over how he would manage multiple briefs. In addition to the role of US top diplomat, Rubio serves as the administrator of the US Agency for International Development and the acting archivist of the United States, an office that oversees the preservation of government records.<\/p>\n \u201cEither one of these jobs, done correctly, requires a super-human level of dedication, focus, and energy,\u201d said a State Department official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with the best of intentions, I don\u2019t see how you can do both jobs at once without neglecting responsibilities that cannot easily be delegated.\u201d<\/p>\n Tammy Bruce, Rubio\u2019s spokesperson at the State Department, said that Rubio has people around him to help him handle the two roles. \u201cIf anybody can do it\u2026 it will be Marco Rubio.\u201d<\/p>\n Some major foreign policy issues remain concentrated in a tight circle, with Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff leading talks with Russia, the Iran nuclear negotiations, and Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president has assembled an incredibly talented team that is fully committed to putting America and Americans first,\u201d the State Department<\/a> said in an emailed response to a request for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cSecretary Rubio looks forward to serving as his interim National Security Adviser while ensuring the mission critical work at the State Department continues uninterrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio and Trump clashed during the hard-fought campaign<\/a> for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. They exchanged barbs on the debate stage, with Trump giving Rubio the moniker Little Marco, and calling him a con artist for missing votes in the Senate.<\/p>\n Rubio, who also accused Trump of being a con man, mocked Trump for supposedly having small hands. Rubio has said those comments were made in the context of a competitive primary, comparing himself to a boxer punching an opponent in the ring.<\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t mean you hate the guy, but we were in a competition<\/a> for the same job,\u201d Rubio told CNN<\/em>.<\/p>\n After Trump took office in 2017, tensions eased as Rubio, who is Cuban American, played a key role advising on Venezuela and Cuba policy.<\/p>\n Rubio was a driving force behind-the-scenes in helping to craft Trump\u2019s \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including the imposition of sanctions against the OPEC member\u2019s vital energy sector, and in the sharp reversal of former President Barack Obama\u2019s rapprochement with Cuba.<\/p>\n A senior State Department official who requested anonymity attributed Trump\u2019s growing reliance on Rubio to a history of \u201cworking collaboratively together, building a professional and personal relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Long a staunch advocate of traditional Republican foreign policy positions including strong support for Ukraine, allegiance to NATO, and a hawkish view of China and its human rights record, Rubio has increasingly aligned himself with Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d message.<\/p>\n At the State Department, Rubio has shut down an office that worked on countering Russian and Chinese misinformation, accusing it of targeting conservatives. He has worked with Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency to cut aid and other programs he supported as a senator, and initiated a major overhaul that would shutter offices dealing with human rights and war crimes.<\/p>\n Rubio used State Department powers to revoke the permission of foreign<\/a> students to study in the US, including a Turkish student<\/a> who wrote an op-ed criticising Israel\u2019s war on Gaza.<\/p>\n In a visit to El Salvador in February, Spanish-speaker Rubio reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele that led to hundreds of men being sent to the country on military planes, even as US courts sought to pause the deportations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u2018He gets it solved\u2019<\/h2>\n
Trump and Rubio once traded barbs<\/h2>\n
Immigration purge<\/h2>\n