President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he will nominate Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for Secretary of State.
“Marco is a highly respected leader, and a very powerful voice for freedom,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday in a statement. “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.”
Mr. Rubio, 53, whose parents emigrated from Cuba in the 1950s, said he was “honored by the trust President Trump has placed in me.”
“Under the leadership of President Trump, we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interest of Americans and America above all else,” Mr. Rubio said.
Mr. Trump has hit the ground running on nominations, moving fast to put forward his preferred picks for Cabinet posts and tap senior White House officials.
Mr. Trump has a far more vast universe of loyalists to pick from after serving four years in Washington and reshaping the Republican Party.
That process has included tapping one-time foes for top posts.
Indeed, the high praise from Mr. Trump is a stark departure from the 2016 GOP presidential primary when he dubbed the Florida Republican “Little Marco.”
Mr. Rubio, likewise, warned that the media and pro-Trump voters would eventually have to justify “how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.” At the time, Mr. Rubio called him a “con artist.”
Those days are long gone.
Mr. Rubio’s nomination underscores how he has evolved into a vocal Trump supporter and campaign surrogate and sharpened his foreign policy chops on Capitol Hill, where he served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At the same time, there is a looming sense of curiosity about how Mr. Rubio’s image as a military hawk will mesh with Mr. Trump’s skepticism toward military adventurism.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.