US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Marco Rubio, Republican US Senator from Florida, as Secretary of State in his second presidential term.
"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 on Wednesday in a statement, adding that the 53-year-old Cuban American "is a Highly Respected Leader and a very powerful Voice for Freedom".
"Marco will be a tremendous Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down from our adversaries. I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!" added Trump.
Responding, Rubio thanked his supporters and stated he would be an adamant supporter of this position.
"As secretary of state, I will labor every day to implement his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump, we will bring peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else," Rubio said.
A US media outlet reported Rubio's nomination days before the official announcement, and it did not take Rubio long to express his response. He said he was "honoured by the trust President Trump has placed in me" to bear the "tremendous responsibility" of leading the Department of State, Xinhua news agency reported.
"As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda," he added.
For example, the Secretary of State, like all members in the cabinet headed by the president, will have to be confirmed by the Senate before she begins her term.
"It is my hope that I will be able to earn the support of my fellow United States Senators so that by inauguration day, January 20, when he becomes president, he will have in place his national security and foreign policy team," said Rubio, who was elected to the Senate in 2010. He was re-elected in 2022 to another six-year term.
Rubio, meanwhile, ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in the 2016 election and left office when Trump won his first presidential term.
With Rubio now set to leave Capitol Hill, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will have to pick a replacement for Rubio to serve out two of the final four years of the Senator's term, until a special election in 2026 to decide who would fill the seat for the final two years.
Speculated names for the position include President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, now the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Trump was said to have been nudging DeSantis, one of the presidential candidates competing against Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, to pick his daughter-in-law.
In one possible scenario, for instance, DeSantis-whose potential second run for president isn't out of the question-might name his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, as a placeholder for him in the Senate until his gubernatorial term is up in 2026 at which point DeSantis could run for the seat himself and, if he makes it through, use it as a launching pad for the White House.
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