US Politics
Rubio details what Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy will entail
January 16, 2025 at 06:23
Sen. Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, is widely expected to win Senate confirmation to the post.
The United States under a second Trump administration will stay committed to core allies such as Israel and Taiwan, pursue a more aggressive strategy to counter China, and take a more “realistic” approach to dealing with Ukraine, humanitarian aid and other global crises if they don’t “advance U.S. interests,” the president-elect’s pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told senators Wednesday.
Rubio, 53, the long-serving Republican senator from Florida who is widely expected to win Senate confirmation, used his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to explain the incoming administration’s vision for an “America First” foreign policy.
The hearing was noteworthy for its depth of policy discussion — a sharp contrast with the contentious exchanges over sex and alcohol that characterized Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s defense secretary pick — and it offered a glimpse into Donald Trump’s international priorities. More typically, the president-elect is prone to sharing such views with little context or detail over social media or in impromptu remarks to reporters
China is “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted,” Rubio said, making clear that countering Beijing will be a key focus of the incoming administration — and echoing a belief expressed by the Biden administration, which was to a certain degree diverted by the conflicts and crises in Ukraine and Gaza.
China dominates critical global supply chains. It is a competitor in science and technology, in global markets, and in political and military influence, Rubio said. It is wholly unlike the Soviet Union and other adversaries the United States has faced.
“When they write the book about the 21st century, there’s going to be some chapters in there about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. There’s going to be some chapters in there about some of these other places,” Rubio said. “But the bulk of that book about the 21st century will be not just about China but about the relationship between China and the United States, and what direction it went.”
The Trump administration will seek to dictate the outcome by focusing the fight at home, he added, articulating Trump’s desire to pull back on free trade agreements and return to a nation more focused on manufacturing.
“We have to rebuild our domestic industrial capacity, and we have to make sure that the United States is not reliant on any single other nation for any of our critical supply chains,” Rubio said.
In Ukraine, where the Biden administration has spent billions of dollars to prop up Kyiv’s fervent defense of its territory against Russia, it is time for America to be “realistic,” Rubio said.
The conflict has become a “war of attrition,” and the next administration should work quickly to achieve a ceasefire, he said. Both sides will ultimately have to make “concessions.”
Rubio said the United States will continue its support for the NATO defense alliance. But he echoed the president-elect’s demands that European countries will have to spend more money and suggested the United States should be “a backstop to aggression” in Europe rather than the bedrock of the continent’s security.
And he signaled that America’s purse strings would tighten in other ways. “Tragically, horrifying atrocities and unimaginable human suffering can be found on virtually every continent,” he said. And, given America’s values, “we will never be indifferent to the suffering of our fellow man.”
“But ultimately, under President Trump, the top priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States,” he continued. “American taxpayer dollars should only be spent to advance U.S. interests, and every penny should be scrutinized to ensure its sincerity and effectiveness.”
In the Middle East, however, Washington’s steadfast support for Israel would stay the course, he said. The administration would take a tough approach to Iran, and remain cautiously open to the swirl of changes in Syria, where new militant leaders swept to power last month.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James E. Risch (R-Idaho) briefly interrupted Rubio’s hearing to share news that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire deal — a positive development that Rubio attributed to efforts made both by the Biden administration and by the Trump transition team.
If the deal holds, Trump will inherit the larger question of what the future holds for a Palestinian population and territory that have been partially decimated through 15 months of war with Israel. Rubio offered little insight into what the Trump administration would do.
He said he will continue to work toward a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, an effort on which the Biden administration was focused before the Gaza war.
“There are opportunities available now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago, whether it’s what’s happened in Lebanon, whether it’s what’s happened in Syria, whether it’s what hopefully will happen with this ceasefire and the release of hostages after the horrifying detention and unjustifiable actions by Hamas, whether it’s any of these things or all in combination,” Rubio said.
“There are now factors at play in the Middle East,” he added, “that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities.”
The most striking aspect of Rubio’s hearing — particularly in the wake of Tuesday’s contentious hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick — was how civilized, polite, and downright friendly it was.
Democrats appeared relieved to be addressing a known quantity, a colleague with whom Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) noted he has co-sponsored 60 bills over the years.
Rubio signaled early in his nomination process that he intended to serve as a loyal foot soldier for Trump, as a Cabinet secretary is tasked to serve the president.
But while Democrats said Wednesday that they appreciated the breadth of Rubio’s foreign policy knowledge, and what many said they knew to be his moderate personal views, he struggled to answer the few questions that prodded at his willingness to take a stand against the president, if necessary.
He dodged the question of whether Trump’s vast global business entanglements would conflict with Rubio’s mission as secretary of State, and struggled to affirm that the State Department would maintain its authority in the face of Trump’s various personal associates already deputized by the president-elect to serve as envoys.
“I just don’t know that Marco is going to have much power,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) said later.
“I thought he did a good job today of trying to shave the edges off of some of Trump’s most irresponsible policies,” Murphy added. But at the end of the day, Rubio will be implementing Trump’s vision. “He’s likely going to administer a policy of surrender” in Ukraine, Murphy said, and “a policy of constant belligerence towards our closest allies.”
John Hudson is a reporter at The Washington Post covering the State Department and national security. He was part of the team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He has reported from dozens of countries, including Ukraine, China, Afghanistan, India and Belarus@John_Hudson
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