Trump expected to pick Florida Sen. Rubio as top diplomat, reports say | Politics news

US Senator Marco Rubio is known for his hawkish stance on China and strong support for Israel.

US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State, multiple media outlets have reported.

Trump on Monday appeared to have settled on Rubio, though he could still change his mind, outlets including The New York Times, CNN, CBS News and Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the decision.

Rubio, known for his hawkish foreign policy views, would be the first Hispanic American to serve as Washington’s top diplomat if named to the role.

Other names tipped as candidates for the role in media reports include Richard Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, and Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser.

Rubio, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, is the latest figure tipped to work under Trump as the makeup of his incoming administration quickly takes shape.

Trump on Monday named Tom Homan, a former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as his “border czar” and Elise Stefanik, a House Republican from New York, as ambassador to the United Nations.

Since his election to the US Senate in 2010, Rubio has cultivated a reputation for taking tough stances on US adversaries such as China, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

He has also strongly supported Israel’s war in Gaza, telling a peace activist last year that Hamas was “100 percent to blame” for the deaths of Palestinians in the enclave.

“I want them to destroy any element of Hamas they can get their hands on,” Rubio said in a December confrontation with Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin.

“These people are vicious animals who have committed horrendous crimes and I hope you write that because that’s my position.”

During his failed 2016 presidential campaign, Rubio clashed with Trump, mocking his then-rival over the size of his hands and saying he wanted to “make America orange” instead of great again.

Rubio later endorsed Trump as the 2016 Republican nominee and served as a close foreign policy adviser to the former president during his unsuccessful 2020 run.

During Trump’s latest bid for the White House, Rubio was floated as a possible vice presidential pick and appeared alongside him at various events on the campaign trail.