Where is Marco Rubio?

{"text":[[{"start":7.75,"text":"Marco Rubio has been assigned so many roles in the Trump administration that his job description has become an internet meme: the Secretary of Everything."}],[{"start":16.7,"text":"But, with two of Washington’s most powerful jobs, the secretary of state and national security adviser has been conspicuously absent from Donald Trump’s biggest international crisis: the war in Iran."}],[{"start":29.15,"text":"On Friday, the US president once again dispatched his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to Pakistan for negotiations. Earlier this month, it was vice-president JD Vance who led talks in Islamabad. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":44.3,"text":"Notably absent from either trip was Rubio, America’s top diplomat."}],[{"start":49.099999999999994,"text":"The former Florida senator, whom Trump had derided as “Little Marco” when they competed in the 2016 election, has impressed supporters and critics alike during Trump’s second term for his unfailing loyalty to the president — even if it means taking a back seat to the US’s most consequential foreign policy under Trump."}],[{"start":69.55,"text":"But for Rubio, who like Vance harbours presidential ambitions, there might also be strategic advantages to keeping some distance from an unpopular war. "}],[{"start":77.89999999999999,"text":"“Rubio may already sense that Iran is a complete loser, and the less he is associated with it, the better,” said Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard University."}],[{"start":88.6,"text":"As Vance emerged this month from 21 hours of negotiations with Iranian officials in Islamabad with no breakthrough to show for it, Rubio was with Trump in Miami attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship match."}],[{"start":101.19999999999999,"text":"The paradox of Rubio’s dual responsibilities, coupled with his low profile on big issues, has been the source of both mockery and confusion."}],[{"start":110.1,"text":"Only one other person has worked as secretary of state and NSA at the same time: Henry Kissinger. But that is where the comparison ends."}],[{"start":119.35,"text":"“Everything was his portfolio,” Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, said of Kissinger. “Rubio: it seems like nothing is his portfolio outside of Latin America.”"}],[{"start":132.4,"text":"But other experts say the diminished public role for the secretary of state is symptomatic of the president’s preference for lightning military interventions versus the grand-strategy alliance-building typical of past Republican secretaries of state, such as Kissinger and James Baker."}],[{"start":149.70000000000002,"text":"“[It] suggests the end of the post-World War Two world order dominated by the US. Not because we’re being pushed out but just because we don’t want to do it anymore,” said Ryan Crocker, who served as US ambassador to half a dozen countries in the Middle East and South Asia. "}],[{"start":166.55,"text":"Compared to his recent predecessors, Rubio is also spending less time overseas, according to an FT analysis of his travel schedule. During his first 15 months in office, Rubio has spent 71 days travelling — fewer than any other secretary of state this century over the same period. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":184.95000000000002,"text":"After losing to Trump in the 2016 presidential primary, Rubio, who was regarded as a traditional Republican hawk, tacked closer to Trump’s “America First” agenda. Much of Trump’s second-term foreign policy has run headlong against things that Rubio once supported in the Senate."}],[{"start":202.70000000000002,"text":"After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Rubio said the US should support Kyiv “as long as they are willing to fight”. Three years later, he sat stony-faced on a gold couch as Trump and Vance clashed with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. "}],[{"start":222.50000000000003,"text":"That image of Rubio has become the basis for memes: Rubio finds out he has just been named president of Venezuela; Rubio as the next supreme leader of Iran; Rubio as the new pope."}],[{"start":234.70000000000002,"text":"“In office, he is devoted to this sycophancy,” said Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “But he has been very impressive, within the confines of that sycophancy, of finding ways to promote progress on issues that are important to him but fashioning them in ways that are appealing to the president.”"}],[{"start":255.10000000000002,"text":"In his norm-busting second term, Trump has prioritised loyalty among his top lieutenants. “This is how Trump wants it,” said Colin Dueck, an expert on Republican Party foreign policy at George Mason University. "}],[{"start":269.20000000000005,"text":"It is a strategy that, for Rubio, may be paying off. While Vance has long been regarded as the Maga standard bearer, opinion polls and focus groups show that Rubio’s star is rising. A recent straw poll of attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference found that while Vance was still the preferred candidate in the 2028 Republican primary, Rubio’s share of the vote leapt from 3 per cent in 2025 to 35 per cent this year."}],[{"start":298.25000000000006,"text":"Rubio also remains a trusted member of Trump’s inner circle. "}],[{"start":302.90000000000003,"text":"He has played a prominent role in trying to explain the erratic and often conflicting stream of policy decisions that flow from the Oval Office."}],[{"start":311.45000000000005,"text":"He was “the guy who’s often brought in to smooth things over,” said Dueck."}],[{"start":316.20000000000005,"text":"One constant from his Senate career has been Rubio’s focus on Latin America, as the administration has dialled up the pressure on socialist strongmen in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":328.20000000000005,"text":"“You could even argue that Venezuela might turn out to be the one bright spot, or at least partial success story in Trump’s entire foreign policy,” said Walt, of Harvard. “Rubio would like to own that and not have his fingerprints on any of the rest of this stuff.”"}],[{"start":344.50000000000006,"text":"White House and state department officials reject the suggestion that Rubio has been sidelined on bigger issues such as the Middle East."}],[{"start":351.75000000000006,"text":"“Secretary Rubio is a trusted voice in every national security discussion,” Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, told the FT in a statement."}],[{"start":361.6000000000001,"text":"Tommy Pigott, state department spokesperson, said: “Secretary Rubio is proud to be on the team implementing President Trump’s policies,” adding that Rubio works with “the president and his team every day”. "}],[{"start":373.6500000000001,"text":"It was not unusual for a US president to appoint envoys or other senior officials to handle delicate foreign policy portfolios in need of particular attention, said Walt. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden appointed a slew of high-profile special envoys to diplomatic efforts on crucial issues."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":393.6000000000001,"text":"“What’s weird about Trump is that he’s using the same tag team of Witkoff and Kushner to handle everything,” he said. "}],[{"start":400.55000000000007,"text":"Republican Senator John Cornyn, who sits on the chamber’s foreign relations and intelligence committees, said, “President Trump prefers to have multiple options.” Sometimes that option was “Mr Witkoff and [Trump’s] son-in-law”. "}],[{"start":414.30000000000007,"text":"Other times it is Vance or Rubio. “He’s got a number of folks on his team he can call on.”"}],[{"start":420.50000000000006,"text":"Rubio might ultimately consider his distance from the Iran talks a lucky break."}],[{"start":425.45000000000005,"text":"Success in brokering an Iran deal would be a huge win for Vance, who is still the most likely Republican contender for 2028. But few regional experts feel bullish about the prospect of success at this point."}],[{"start":438.6,"text":"Remember, one former senior Republican aide said, noting Rubio’s own presidential ambitions: “It’s Iran we’re dealing with.”"}],[{"start":446.6,"text":"“And so, God forbid, what happens if talks fail? Well, then JD Vance failed. He failed to deliver,” the former aide said. “Net plus Rubio.”"}],[{"start":459.95000000000005,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777122209_7089.mp3"}