American media: Trump is expected to select Senator Marco Rubio for the position of Secretary of State

Donald Trump is expected to choose Senator Marco Rubio for the post of Secretary of State, according to several sources cited by several American media. If confirmed, the Florida politician will be the first Hispanic to serve as America's top diplomat once the Republican president-elect takes office in January.

Senator Rubio currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He is also a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations. According to sources cited by several media outlets, Trump has chosen Republican lawmaker Mike Waltz for the post of National Security Advisor. Waltz is known for his tough stance on China.

Another decision for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet, according to two CNN sources, is the selection of North Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for the post of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Like Senator Rubio, Governor Noem was mentioned as a possible candidate of Mr. Trump for the post of Vice President during the election campaign. She is currently in her second term as governor after a landslide victory in 2022.

Meanwhile, from Mr. Trump's short list of candidates for Secretary of State, Senator Rubio is the politician who has spoken most openly about a tougher foreign policy toward America's geopolitical adversaries, including China, Iran and Cuba.

Over the past few years he has softened some of his positions to match those of Mr. Trump. The president-elect accuses past US presidents of engaging America in costly and unnecessary wars and has spoken out in support of a more restrained foreign policy.

While Mr. Trump is known for his unpredictable stances and as someone who can change his mind at the last minute, until Monday he appeared to be determined to pick Mr. Rubio for secretary of state, according to sources who spoke to anonymity conditions for some media.

Representatives for Mr. Trump and Senator Rubio did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The new administration will face a more volatile and dangerous world than it was when Mr. Trump took office in 2017. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continue as China continues to align itself more closely with Washington's enemies, Russia and Iran.

The crisis in Ukraine will be the main point in the program of the next Secretary of State. Fifty-three-year-old Rubio has said in recent interviews that Ukraine should seek a negotiated solution with Russia instead of focusing on recapturing all the territory that Russia has conquered in the last decade. He was also one of 15 Republican senators who voted against a $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine passed in April.

While Sen. Rubio is the candidate who has spoken most often about tougher foreign policies, his potential election nonetheless underscores a significant shift in Republican foreign policy views under Mr. Trump.

Once the party of officials more vocal in favor of military intervention and a muscle-showing foreign policy, most of Mr. Trump's allies now speak of restraint, especially in Europe. Many Republicans complain that America's allies in Europe are not investing enough in their defense.

"I'm not on Russia's side, but unfortunately the reality is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement," Senator Rubio told NBC in September.

The selection of Mr. Rubio has significance within the United States and in the international arena. Republican nominee Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election in part by boosting support among Latino voters, who had overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in previous election cycles. This group of voters, however, has become an increasingly diverse demographic in a political sense, with more and more Latinos voting Republican.

By selecting Senator Rubio for a key policy role, President-elect Trump can continue to consolidate support among Hispanics and make clear that they have a place at the highest levels of his administration. If confirmed, Sen. Rubio is likely to place far greater emphasis on Latin America than any previous secretary of state, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an ally and former president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

"This is the time when Latin America will have the most attention in the history of any presidency of the United States. It is of historical importance", said Mr. Claver-Carone./ VOA