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Donald Trump is closing in on top picks for his foreign policy team, planning to tap Florida congressman Mike Waltz as his national security adviser and to nominate Florida senator Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rubio, an Iran and China hawk who serves on the Senate foreign relations committee, would become one of the most prominent members of Trump’s foreign policy team if confirmed by the Senate next year. A Cuban-American, Rubio would also be the first Latino to serve as Washington’s top diplomat.
Waltz, 50, a decorated military veteran, Nato critic and fellow China sceptic, would become one of the most powerful officials in the White House if he takes up the post, shaping US policy on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. A retired Army Special Forces officer, he served several tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.
Trump has vowed a big shift in US foreign policy from President Joe Biden after campaigning on a unilateralist and non-interventionist platform. But Waltz and Rubio are not seen as diehard isolationists, which will be of comfort to more establishment foreign policy experts and lawmakers in Washington.
Matt Turpin, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and former Trump administration National Security Council China director, noted that Rubio, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, was one of the earliest China hawks in Washington, long before many other US officials were focused on Beijing.
“That experience and focus on China is reinforced with the selection of Mike Waltz as national security adviser,” said Turpin. “It suggests that president-elect Trump will press the Chinese Communist party very hard, just as he did during his first term.”
Unlike other top administration positions, the national security adviser does not need Senate confirmation, meaning Waltz would be able to start as soon as Trump is sworn in for another four-year term in January.
In his first administration, Trump cycled through four national security advisers. His first pick, former military intelligence officer Michael Flynn, lasted less than one month after he admitted to lying to the FBI about contacts with a Russian diplomat. Flynn was followed by HR McMaster, John Bolton and Robert O’Brien.
A Trump campaign spokesperson and Waltz and Rubio’s offices did not respond to requests for comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Trump had asked Waltz to be his national security adviser on Monday. The New York Times first reported Trump was expected to nominate Rubio.
Earlier on Monday, the president-elect confirmed he had asked New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik to serve as the next US ambassador to the UN.
Trump had sparred with Rubio in the 2016 Republican primary, labelling him “little Marco”, but later considered the Florida senator as a potential running mate in 2024.
Rubio had also initially been a strong supporter of aid for Kyiv but voted against a $95bn aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel in April, citing the bill’s lack of border security provisions.
He told NBC in September that he was “not on Russia’s side . . . but the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiating settlement”. Last week, he said the fighting had reached “a stalemate”.
Waltz has been sceptical of US aid to Ukraine and has called on Nato countries to spend more on collective defence. He has also endorsed Trump’s claim that the president-elect will be able to end the fighting in Ukraine on “day one” of his administration.