Rubio expressed his gratitude and commitment to the role…reports Asian Lite News
US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Marco Rubio, Republican US Senator from Florida, will be the Secretary of State during his second presidential term.
“It is my Great Honour to announce that Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The United States Secretary of State,” Trump said on Wednesday in a statement, adding that the 53-year-old Cuban American “is a Highly Respected Leader and a very powerful Voice for Freedom”.
“Marco will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down from our adversaries. I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!,” Trump added.
In response, Rubio expressed his gratitude and commitment to the role.
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump, we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else,” Rubio said.
Rubio, whose nomination has been reported by US media outlets for days, reacted quickly to Trump’s formal announcement, saying on X that he was “honoured by the trust President Trump has placed in me” to bear the “tremendous responsibility” of leading the Department of State, Xinhua news agency reported.
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda,” he added.
The Secretary of State, as is the case for other cabinet members of the presidential administration, will have to be approved by the Senate before assuming office.
“I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the US Senate so the President has his national security and foreign policy team in place when he takes office on January 20,” said Rubio, who was elected into the Senate in 2010. He was re-elected in 2022 to serve another six-year term.
Rubio ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in the 2016 election, which saw Trump win his first presidential term.
Gabbard tapped to head US intelligence community
US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Hindu American Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat member of Congress, to his cabinet as the Director of National Intelligence.
“Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength,” Trump said on Truth Social on Wednesday announcing his pick for the post.
“For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans,” Trump said referring to her rank as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve serving in the Iraq War.
She quit the Democratic Party and formally joined the Republican Party this year and campaigned for Trump, urging Indian Americans to vote for him.
It was an ideological 180-degree turn because she had been associated with the Democratic Party’s Left and had supported the Leftist Senator, Bernie Sanders, for the presidential nomination in 2016.
She will become the second Hindu on the US cabinet, after Arati Prabhakar, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, now serving with Biden.
After a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, Gabbard said, “India is the world’s largest democracy and one of the United States’ most important partners in the Asia-Pacific region.”
“We spoke about the need to continue to work together to address the pressing issues that impact us and the world,” she said.
“We discussed the situation in Kashmir, civil rights, empowering women, and addressing poverty, as well as the concern about escalating tensions with Iran,” she added.
The Director of National Intelligence coordinates the work of 18 intelligence agencies, and her office includes the National Counterterrorism Center, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, and the Foreign Malign Influence Centre.
The director’s high-profile role is preparing the daily intelligence briefing for the President, an overview of the global situation, and an early warning system for emerging dangers.
In the national security sector, Trump has nominated Mike Waltz, who is the co-chair of the India Caucus in Congress, as his new National Security Adviser.
Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio is also a supporter of India.
Gabbard is from Hawaii and of Samoan heritage on her father’s side and European on her mother’s. Her parents embraced the Hindu religion.
She became the first Hindu elected to Congress in 2004 and took the oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita.
Once a rising star of the Democratic Party, she was the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, but she resigned in 2016 accusing the party’s leadership of undemocratically promoting Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee.
She ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and during a candidate’s debate in 2019 she took a memorable swipe from the left at Vice President Kamala Harris accusing her of hypocrisy because of her record of targeting African-Americans and people of colour during her prosecutorial career in California.
Gabbard reportedly was one of the advisers for Trump when he prepared for his debate with Harris.
“As a former presidential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, she has broad support in both parties,” Trump said.
While her nomination will sail through the Senate with Republican support, most Democrats will consider her a turncoat.
Her Hindu religion has drawn attacks from some activists and American media like the Intercept and Indian media like the Caravan which have accused her of being associated with Hindu nationalists.
