Now a trusted ally, 'Little Marco' gets Trump's big jobs

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - Top diplomat, foreign aid chief, national archivist and now national security advisor. Marco Rubio's expanding resume underscores President Donald Trump's increasing trust in the former Florida senator, officials said.

Trump said on Thursday that his national security advisor Mike Waltz would move on to become UN ambassador, weeks after Waltz added a journalist from The Atlantic to a Signal chat where top officials were discussing military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

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In his place, Trump named Rubio as his top national security aide on an interim basis, the latest instance of the president turning to the man he once disparaged as Little Marco and labeled a con artist to take on crucial tasks in his administration.

Rubio will lead the council that coordinates the administration’s national security actions around the world, although Trump did not indicate when a permanent replacement would be named.

The reshuffle comes amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine, restore a failed ceasefire in Gaza and conduct complex nuclear talks with Iran, all while managing the diplomatic fallout from Trump’s trade war with China.

A senior U.S. official said Rubio has built trust with Trump by carrying out whatever tasks Trump hands to him. “He’s done everything that Trump has asked him to do,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. “Why wouldn’t you trust him?”

NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters that Rubio had implemented Trump's America First agenda and was "well qualified" to oversee the council.

'HE GETS IT SOLVED'

Early on, Rubio was sent to Panama to put Trump's promise to "take back" the Panama Canal in more diplomatic terms. In March, after an Oval Office blowup with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump dispatched Rubio to Saudi Arabia, where he helped bring his effort toward peace between Ukraine and Russia back on track.

Rubio has also played a leading role in Trump’s controversial crackdown on migration to the United States, securing an agreement to send alleged gang members to a high-security prison in El Salvador, and revoking thousands of student visas, in many cases after the students took part in anti-Israel protests.

Above all, Rubio has vociferously argued for Trump’s agenda, even when it clashed with his own previous positions. As a U.S. Senator, Rubio championed foreign assistance around the world. Under Trump, Rubio has overseen the dismantling of Washington’s main aid agency, and proudly defended the decision to do so.

At a Rose Garden event on Thursday, Trump thanked Rubio for his “unbelievable” work. “When I have a problem, I call up Marco,” Trump said. “He gets it solved.”

It is not unprecedented for one official to hold multiple roles at the same time. Henry Kissinger served as both Secretary of State and national security advisor in the 1970s.

But Rubio's current workload raises questions over how he would manage multiple briefs. In addition to the role of U.S. top diplomat, Rubio serves as the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the acting archivist of the United States, an office that oversees the preservation of government records.

"Either one of these jobs, done correctly, requires a super-human level of dedication, focus, and energy," said a State Department official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly. "Even with the best of intentions, I don’t see how you can do both jobs at once without neglecting responsibilities that cannot easily be delegated."

Tammy Bruce, Rubio’s spokesperson at the State Department, said that Rubio has people around him to help him handle the two roles. “If anybody can do it... it will be Marco Rubio.”

Some major foreign policy issues remain concentrated in a tight circle, with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff leading talks with Russia, the Iran nuclear negotiations, and Israel’s war in Gaza.

"The president has assembled an incredibly talented team that is fully committed to putting America and Americans first," the State Department said in an emailed response to a request for comment. "Secretary Rubio looks forward serving as his interim National Security Advisor while ensuring the mission critical work at the State Department continues uninterrupted."

TRUMP AND RUBIO ONCE TRADED BARBS

Rubio and Trump clashed during the hard-fought campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. They exchanged barbs on the debate stage, with Trump giving Rubio the moniker Little Marco, and calling him a “con artist” for missing votes in the Senate. Rubio, who also accused Trump of being a “con man,” mocked Trump for supposedly having small hands.

After Trump took office in 2017, tensions eased as Rubio, who is Cuban American, played a key role advising on Venezuela and Cuba policy. Rubio was a driving force behind-the-scenes in helping to craft Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including the imposition of sanctions against the OPEC member's vital energy sector, and in the sharp reversal of former President Barack Obama's rapprochement with Cuba.

senior State Department official who requested anonymity attributed Trump's growing reliance on Rubio to a history of " working collaboratively together, building a professional and personal relationship."

Long a staunch advocate of traditional Republican foreign policy positions including strong support for Ukraine, allegiance to NATO, and a hawkish view of China and its human rights record, Rubio has increasingly aligned himself with Trump's America First message.

At the State Department, Rubio has shut down an office that worked on countering Russian and Chinese misinformation, accusing it of targeting conservatives.

He has worked with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to cut aid and other programs he supported as a senator, and initiated a major overhaul that would shutter offices dealing with human rights and war crimes.

IMMIGRATION PURGE

Rubio used State Department powers to revoke the permission of foreign students to study in the U.S., including a Turkish student who wrote an op-ed criticizing Israel's war in Gaza.

In a visit to El Salvador in February, Spanish-speaker Rubio reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele that led to hundreds of men being sent to the country on military planes, even as U.S. courts sought to pause the deportations.

Those deported included Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The administration admitted his deportation to his native El Salvador, despite a court order, was a mistake.

At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rubio, seated beside Trump, said the judiciary could not force the administration to try to return Abrego Garcia.

"The conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the United States and the executive branch, not some judge," Rubio told reporters.

(This story has been refiled to fix the spelling of 'adviser' in paragraphs 1 and 2)

Reporting by Simon Lewis, Daphne Psaledakis and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee and Suzanne Goldenberg

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