Marco Rubio is at the center of a quiet race for secretary of state

A heated race is underway for one of the most coveted positions in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration — and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio appears to be on the shortlist.

Rubio has made it known to Trump and his inner circle that he is interested in joining the president-elect’s cabinet, sources say, adding that secretary of state is perhaps the most natural fit for the senator. One person close to Trump noted the process is still playing out and that his newly named White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, a veteran Florida Republican operative, will likely play a crucial role in filling out cabinet appointments.

The position is highly competitive, with other top allies of the former and future president — including former U.S. ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell, former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee — jostling for the role.

Grenell has expressed confidence to allies that he is Trump’s top choice, and has emerged as a favorite of far-right firebrands that have begun casting Rubio as a “neocon” war hawk out of step with Trump’s MAGA movement.

But Rubio’s stature in the Senate would ensure a smooth confirmation process, and his prior vetting as a top contender to be Trump’s vice presidential running mate means he’s not likely to raise any damning red flags within Trump’s transition team or in the Senate.

Dan Holler, Rubio’s chief strategist, pointed to the senator’s comments to CNN on Wednesday, when he told the network, “I always am interested in serving this country.”

“I’m not trying to play coy,” Rubio said, asked about a potential role in the Trump administration. “It’s just, literally, just a few hours removed from this election. I haven’t had any set conversations with anybody in the Trump administration. Either way, I plan to work with them, whether it’s in the Senate, which is an important place to be, or in some other capacity.”

Chatter that Rubio could be considered for the top role in Foggy Bottom isn’t new. After he was passed up to be Trump’s running mate this summer, Republicans in Florida and Washington began floating the senator’s name for the secretary job, arguing that his deep foreign policy experience — and friendly relationship with Trump — make him a prime contender to serve as the country’s top diplomat.

He currently serves as the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio has been a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine, but also this week said the war had entered a “stalemate” and would need to end, echoing statements from the president-elect. He is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government and said this summer that Trump would continue supporting Taiwan against a potential invasion, penning legislation that would boost deterrence against a war in the Pacific.

In the Middle East, Rubio has consistently pressed for a maximum-pressure strategy against Iran and supported Trump’s decision to withdraw from an international agreement governing its nuclear program. And he has broadly backed Israel’s wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, rejecting accusations that Israeli forces have used excessive force in either conflict.

Jamie Miller, a Florida Republican consultant who’s known Rubio for decades, said that Rubio has used his time in the Senate to become one of the country’s “foremost foreign policy experts” and that his confirmation in the Senate would be an “easy vote” for his colleagues.

“I’ve known Sen. Rubio since he was first elected in the state House and the depth of his knowledge on foreign affairs is incredible,” Miller, who’s not involved with Trump’s transition team, said. “I just can’t imagine a better pick to be in leadership.”

There’s also little political risk in choosing Rubio for a job in the Trump administration. Republicans control nearly every facet of Florida’s state government, and if Rubio were to resign his seat, his replacement would be chosen by the state’s GOP governor, Ron Desantis.

Officials with Trump’s transition team declined to comment.

Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies with close ties to Trump’s orbit, said it’s important that the former and incoming president’s secretary of state align with his approach to foreign policy. Rubio — and the other names under consideration — meet that standard, he said.

“All of the top contenders for secretary of state believe in President-elect Trump’s philosophy of peace through strength and the necessity of casting a shadow of American power across the negotiating table,” Dubowitz said. “They understand that State Department diplomacy without coercive power is capitulation.”