American Outlets reported on Monday that US President-elect Donald Trump is set to name Senator Marco Rubio as his secretary of state. This would make Rubio the first Latino to serve as a top diplomat for America starting January.
The Florida-born politician has experience in foreign policy as he sits on both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio has shaped his views in the past few years to align with Trump’s views, which is why he was a choice for the position.
The Latino voters who switched from Democrats to Republicans played a huge role in Trump winning the election. The president-elect has begun naming top officials for his new administration as he rewards loyalists who were supporting him during his campaign as well as naming officials from his first stint.
Elise Stefanik was picked as the US ambassador to the UN. This pick emphasizes how Trump’s second stint will bring a tough, pro-Israel line to the world body.
Stefanik told The New York Post, “The work ahead is immense as we see anti-Semitism skyrocketing, coupled with four years of catastrophically weak US leadership that significantly weakened our national security and diminished our standing in the eyes of both allies and adversaries.”
She added, “I stand ready to advance President Donald J. Trump’s restoration of America’s first peace through strong leadership on the world stage on Day One at the United Nations.”
Stefanik is 40 years old; a Republican congresswoman is a fierce ally of Trump, and she will be replacing Joe Biden’s UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was criticized for the vetoes she had done for the humanitarian resolutions in Gaza.
Rubio is set to replace Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Latino diplomat was a rival to Trump, but he went on to become a supporter.
For the National Security Advisor role, American media reports that Trump has picked Mike Waltz, who also happens to be a congressman from Florida.
Waltz would be succeeding Jake Sullivan and would straight away look into matters such as the war in the Middle East, America’s support to Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, and countering China.
Stephen Miller is among the names which are being resurrected from his Trump’s first stint as president. Miller, an immigration hardliner, is set to be the Deputy Chief of Policy in his second stint.
Trump emphasized throughout his campaign that the country’s economic, national security, and social priorities could be accomplished by deporting people who are staying in the US illegally.
Tom Homan has been appointed as “Border Tsar,” and his first task will reportedly be overseeing the biggest deportation operation in the history of the US.
Homan was leading US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first administration, and he also served under former president Barack Obama, heading ICE’s deportation branch.
Trump indicated that only his loyalists would be getting positions in his second stint, as he mentioned that neither his former UN ambassador Nikki Haley nor his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, would be given roles.
Susie Wiles was one of two campaign managers working with Trump. He appointed her as his White House Chief of Staff during his victory speech.
