Democrats are falling over themselves as they welcome the nomination of Marco Rubio for Secretary of State.
Marco Rubio speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16, 2024.
(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump is already filling his cabinet with neoconservatives, building a national security team that would whitewash the “America First” stance of his presidential campaign. Trump asked Representative Mike Waltz, a retired Green Beret known for promoting the coldest wars with China, will become his national security adviser. He too named Marco Rubio is another Republican from Florida and one of the luckiest choices Trump could have made for his secretary of state.
And what do you know? The liberal establishment is delighted.
America’s foreign policy elite and many mainstream Democrats immediately lined up to welcome Trump’s selection of Rubio, who has hardline views on Iran, China, Venezuela and, in particular, Cuba. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the first Democrat to voice support for Rubio’s confirmation. “It’s no surprise that another team’s pick would have more political differences than my own,” Fetterman said. said in a post on X. “That being said, my colleague @SenMarcoRubio is a strong choice and I look forward to voting for his confirmation.” According to NBC News, some Democrats in Congress to recognize that they are “pleasantly surprised” by the “caliber” of some of Trump’s picks, including Rubio.
One Democrat, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, didn’t even try to contain the excitement. In an interview with of courseBooker boasted about his friendship with Rubio. “First of all, Marco Rubio is mine a friend“, Booker said. “Over the 10 years I’ve been here, we’ve developed a very good friendship. He’s principled.”
“I’m just happy for him and his family,” he added. “We will have a hearing and I will get a chance to talk to him. He has an understanding of the nuances and complexities of foreign policy.”
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly also praised his fellow Republican, saying Rubio has a “pretty good understanding of the threats we face.”
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The liberal media elites were just as jazzed. Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief Atlantic, surfaced again In a 2015 interview he conducted with Rubio, he noted that “you can see evidence of his consistently tough approach to Iran.” Trump’s new cabinet, he added, “could become a real nightmare for Tehran.”
Political scientist Jan Bremer said Rubio and Waltz are “serious” and “credible on foreign policy,” adding that U.S. allies around the world “feel more comfortable with both of those statements.”
This euphoria can be nauseating, but it shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, for most mainstream US foreign policy figures and thinkers, a “serious and credible” foreign policy is one that reflects a commitment to maintaining US military and economic dominance of the planet. By this measure, Rubio is an excellent choice. He never met a war he didn’t love.
During his first run for the Senate in 2010, Rubio defended the invasion of Iraq, long after most people had labeled it a disaster. As a member of Congress, he led the failed US attempt to oust the president of Venezuela, was a key supporter of the Senate’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, and opposed withdrawal of the United States from Syria and Afghanistan in 2019, when Trump was considering an exit. “Now people can say what’s wrong with that? Away from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, why are we fighting other people’s wars?” – he said in the speech. “We are not. These are not foreign wars. This is ours.”
Likewise, Waltz has a long history of wanting to escalate conflicts that Trump himself has expressed a desire to withdraw from, such as Afghanistan and Ukraine. In Congress, Waltz co-sponsored a bill to pre-authorize war with China over Taiwan, voted against ending US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and voted to maintain Iraq’s 2002 authorization to use military force.
During his first term, Trump has been hostile toward Iran and China, waged sweeping sanctions campaigns, threatened nuclear war with North Korea, and more. He was hard to pin down, making promises or somewhat vague plans on foreign policy issues only to undermine himself or dramatically undermine the process.
This time, Trump decided to step up his anti-war rhetoric during the campaign. While Kamala Harris spent the final weeks of the campaign with Liz Cheney, Trump claimed that a Harris presidency would lead us to World War III. Harris made the puzzling decision to send campaign surrogates like Bill Clinton and Rep. Richie Torres, a staunch Zionist, to mostly Arab-American voting districts in Michigan. But Trump visited Dearborn in the final days of the race, declaring“You will have peace in the Middle East, but not with the clowns who now rule the US.” He too promised before the end of the war in Ukraine and phenomena skeptically defense of Taiwan from China.
Americans are more war-weary than ever and are desperate for some countermeasure to the bloodthirsty US foreign policy — even if it comes in the form of these rambling promises. While Trump is not anti-war in any real ideological or moral sense, he has shown that he at least seems to understand the political downsides of continued military action. Many of his harshest decisions have been limited to quick action, whether it was the brutal destruction of the ISIS caliphate (and the civilians who live there) or the assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
This is not the approach of the US foreign policy elite, which is why it is so telling that Rubio’s choice was met with such praise. The Blob believes that the United States needs a long-term military effort to try to contain China or potentially draw it into conflict, even if such prolonged fighting is politically unpopular. If liberal lawmakers like Booker or Fetterman are relieved to have Rubio and Waltz in the cabinet, it’s because they’re relieved to have someone in the room who will stand firm on the US’s commitment to endless wars. When Rubio meets with outgoing Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Blinken, whose tenure has been as blood-soaked as anyone’s, will no doubt express the same gratitude.
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However, Trump’s decision to nominate former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Matt Gaetz as attorney general could create an unpredictable dynamic if both are confirmed. Gabbard and Goetz are controversial figures who are also outspoken critics of US military intervention abroad, mass surveillance and perpetual wars.
It’s not hard to imagine more concerted opposition to Rubio’s wing from Trump’s cabinet, rather than from his perceived political rivals. The Democrats’ embrace of his national security team shows how little daylight there is between the most hawkish Republicans and so-called national security liberals. The future of Trump’s foreign policy may be determined by who wins the battle for his favor: the unorthodox anti-interventionist forces in his administration or Rubio and his cross-party allies in Congress, Washington and the wider Blob.
We cannot retreat
We now face a second Trump presidency.
There is nothing to lose. We must use our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger to oppose the dangerous policies that Donald Trump is unleashing on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as principled and honest journalists and authors.
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Armed with 160 years of courageous independent journalism, our mandate remains the same today as it was when the Abolitionists were founded Nation— to defend the principles of democracy and freedom, to serve as a beacon in the darkest days of resistance, and to see and fight for a bright future.
The day is dark, the forces are building tenaciously, but it’s too late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is just the time when artists go to work. No time for despair, no room for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we make language. This is how civilizations heal.”
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Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, Nation
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