Unsurprisingly, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's confirmation hearing to become Donald Trump's secretary of State focused on two main topics: "China, China, China" and "Russia, Russia, Russia."
The hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee got underway just after 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, with Rubio, who is still a sitting member of the committee, remarking on it being "surreal" to be sitting opposite the member dais.
Marco Rubio Will Be on the Hot Seat Today As He Seeks to Become Trump's Secretary of State
Rubio's fellow senator from Florida, Rick Scott, introduced Rubio as the nominee and noted that he was looking forward to being the senior senator from Florida once Rubio resigned his seat to become the next secretary of state.
Rubio's opening statement maintained that the United States would be the top priority of the United States Department of State under Donald Trump.
As a nation founded on the revolutionary truth that “all men are created equal” with rights that come not from man but from God, 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 must be and will be the United States. The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear. Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions:
• Does it make America safer?
• Does it make America stronger?
• Does it make America more prosperous?
Under President Trump, the dollars of hardworking American taxpayers will always be spent wisely and our power will always be yielded prudently, and toward what is best for America and Americans above all else.
As they did in some of the other hearings this week, Code Pinkers and other disgruntled leftists tried to interrupt Rubio's testimony, with one woman unleashing a torrent of ire in Spanish. This led to much amusement.
Marco Rubio laughs at being interrupted by a protester speaking Spanish.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) January 15, 2025
“I get bilingual protesters.” pic.twitter.com/Kf9Dvw3oj7
Despite the levity of that moment, Rubio struck a very serious tone as he discussed the foreign policy priorities of Donald Trump, and competently answered all of the questions from the panel. Rubio's answer to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) showed what the power structure will be like in the new administration:
"The foreign policy of the United States will be set by the president, and my job will be to advise and execute."
Here were some of the meatier comments by Rubio.
China
Rubio didn't mince words when it came to the Chicoms, calling China "America's biggest threat."
“If we don’t change course, we are going to live in the world where much of what matters to us on a daily basis from our security to our health will be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not,” Rubio testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Russia
Rubio maintained that the incoming Trump administration wanted the Russia-Ukraine war to be "brought to an end" and that “there is no way Russia takes all of Ukraine.”
However, the 53-year-old added before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it is “also unrealistic to believe that somehow, a nation the size of Ukraine — no matter how incompetent and no matter how much damage the Russian Federation has suffered as a result of this invasion — there’s no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion, just given the size dynamic.”
Mexico
The topic of Mexico came up repeatedly during the hearing, with Rubio signaling the new administration would prefer diplomacy over stricter sanctions.
“President Trump is someone that never publicly discusses his options and leaves himself the flexibility to act,” said Rubio, a senator from Florida. “I think there’s a lot we can and we’ll continue to do in close partnership with our allies in Mexico. I think there’s more they can do as well to confront this challenge, and my preference would be, from the Department of State’s perspective, my preference would be that we can work with the Mexicans on this issue cooperatively, because it is impacting their nation as much as ours.”
In an exchange with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Rubio was open to designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, but it was suggested a different designation would be preferable in order to prevent the terrorism tag being falsely used by "asylum seekers" as a means to get into the United States.
Towards the end of the hearing, Sen. Cruz predicted that Rubio would be confirmed to the position with broad bipartisan support, speculating that the confirmation could come on January 20.
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