It\u2019s not just that Marco Rubio is eclipsing other Cabinet members in President Donald Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n
Or even that he has reignited long-dormant speculation that he could become president.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that Rubio, in little more than a year, is becoming arguably the most consequential U.S. secretary of state in decades by ditching the last vestiges of the post-World War II international order in exchange for regime change and spheres of influence.<\/p>\n
The capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro of Venezuela and the bombing of Iran are the latest mile markers of a U.S. foreign policy racing ahead with none of the constraints that tamed global conflict over the last 80 years.<\/p>\n
As much as this transformation reflects Trump\u2019s impulsive style, it would be an oversight to ignore the influence of Rubio, 54.<\/p>\n
Trump himself characterized the 2003-2011 Iraq War as a \u201cbig, fat mistake\u201d and vowed in his campaign that his deal-making prowess would keep America out of wars.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the \u201cAmerica First\u201d sect in MAGA, populated by the likes of Tucker Carlson and Vice President JD Vance. It opposes prolonged military entanglements overseas and ride-or-die alliances with Israel and Europe in favor of nativism at home and embracing authoritarians abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the United States\u2019 war, \u201d Carlson said last week, one of the many conservative commentators to criticize the Iran attack. \u201cThis war is not being waged on behalf of American national security objectives to make the United States safer or richer.\u201d<\/p>\n
But since January, Rubio\u2019s neo-conservative interventionistworldview has been clearly winning over Trump, a nod to skills he honed during his eight years in the Florida Legislature.<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Times this monthspoke to a half-dozen Republican and Democratic legislative leaders who witnessed Rubio\u2019s climb through the state House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard he got this job, I thought it would suit his skill set,\u201d said Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat who was the minority leader in the House when Rubio was speaker from 2006 to 2008. \u201cHe reads the room exceptionally well. I was impressed by his ability to navigate competing pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gelber, who went on to serve as Miami Beach mayor, said he had little, if anything, good to say about the other members of Trump\u2019s Cabinet. \u201cBut Marco?\u201d he added. \u201cHe\u2019s not easy to dislike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubio arrived in Tallahassee in 2000 as a 28-year-old lawyer whose political experience was as a West Miami commissioner.<\/p>\n
With incumbents tossed out for the first time because of the debut of term limits, Rubio\u2019s freshman class was the largest in history, making up more than half of the total 120 seats in the House. Even in that crowd, party leaders immediately saw his potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could get up and speak about anything without a note in front of him,\u201d said Mike Fasano, Pasco\u2019s tax collector who was then House majority leader. \u201cHe had a gift, he still does, of attracting people to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The House speaker in Rubio\u2019s first year, Tom Feeney, said leaders noticed his discipline early. During the 2000Bush v. Gorelegal battle over ballot-counting in Florida that would decide the presidency,state House Republicans limited those who could talk publicly about the recount.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarco was one of the few people we trusted,\u201d Feeney said. \u201cHe was a good messenger on a very high-stakes issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having grown up among Cuban exiles and other immigrants in Miami who fled authoritarian regimes, Rubio had another characteristic setting him apart. While most lawmakers come to Tallahassee with parochial concerns, Rubio was contemplating the world beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cForeign policy in South Florida is a daily issue,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who was in the Florida Senate when Rubio first arrived in Tallahassee. \u201cYou have a large Cuban community that\u2019s there because of (former Cuban President Fidel) Castro. You have a large Venezuelan community that\u2019s there because of (former Venezuelan Presidents) Hugo Chavez and Maduro. You have Nicaraguans and Colombians. You can\u2019t live in Miami without living foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until after Rubio rode a tea party wave and beat former Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2010 U.S. Senate race that he threw himself professionally into foreign affairs.<\/p>\n
As Florida\u2019s junior senator, he helped author an immigration reform bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for some immigrantsliving in the country without legal authorization.<\/p>\n
It was a confusing time for the GOP. After incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, some Republicans thought the party had to soften its image with Hispanic voters. At the same time, another strain in the party grew hostile toward immigrants. The birther movement, which grew out of Trump\u2019s questioning of Obama\u2019s citizenship, targeted Rubio for a time.<\/a><\/p>\n Ultimately, the anti-immigrant passions won out, and Rubio turned against his own legislation.<\/p>\n Frustrated by the gridlock in the Senate, Rubio embarked on a bid for the presidency.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t end well for Rubio. Looking back, those who admired his equanimity in Tallahassee felt he let himself down by taking potshots at Trump during a 2016 presidential debate.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you were to ask him what his greatest regret was, I think he\u2019d tell you it was his ad hominem attack,\u201d Feeney said.<\/p>\n Through a spokesperson, Rubio declined to be interviewed for this story.<\/p>\n Like others who blistered Trump \u2014 such as Vance and current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth \u2014 Rubio has since repaired his relationship with the president.<\/p>\n Rubio pivoted that same year and won reelection to the Senate, where he continued to add foreign policy credentials. He saw himself as an heir to Ronald Reagan as he crusaded against communism abroad.<\/p>\n That meant standing up to Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and supporting Ukraine, siding steadfastly with Israel, and pressuring the authoritarian regimes in Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.<\/p>\n When Trump tapped him eight years later to be his secretary of state, Rubio had become the leading statesman of the Republican establishment.<\/p>\n Almost from his start in Trump\u2019s Cabinet, Rubio seemed intent on ingratiating himself withthe president, even if it meant abandoning causes he had supported as a national security hawk.<\/p>\n