Rubio is being compared to Henry Kissinger as one of the most significant secretaries of state to shape pivotal U.S. policy.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump often praises his Cabinet members, but no one has received as much attention lately as his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, Trump joked, “I became a diplomat for the first time.”
He then pointed to Rubio in the audience, crediting him as his mentor in diplomacy.
“You know who taught me that—Marco Rubio. He said, ‘Let me teach you about diplomacy.’”
Rubio has often been in the spotlight over the past year, and especially after the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in early January. Rubio was a key figure in the strategy and planning of the operation and now oversees the Venezuelan regime led by interim leader Delcy Rodríguez.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly praised Rubio, saying that he will “go down as the best secretary of state.”
Rubio, who also serves as national security advisor, is increasingly viewed in Washington as a rising force within the administration. Some compare him to Henry Kissinger, who acted first as national security adviser and later as an influential secretary of state under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford.
Alex Gray, who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, views Rubio as effective and strongly aligned with the president on foreign policy.
Unlike previous secretaries, Gray told The Epoch Times, Rubio does not try to change Trump but instead focuses on translating the president’s goals into successful policy.
“He’s an extraordinarily effective secretary of state, perhaps the most effective secretary of state we’ve had in a very long time,” said Gray, who is now a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.
Rubio was born in Miami in 1971 to conservative Cuban immigrant parents. His father worked as a bartender, and his mother divided her time between being a stay-at-home mom and working as a hotel maid.
In his 2012 memoir, “An American Son,” Rubio explained how his family’s sacrifices and hard work in blue-collar jobs in Miami and Las Vegas contributed to his own success, including his 2010 U.S. Senate victory, and are an example of the American Dream.
“For them, Cuba was a place that had painful memories, but also obviously, it was their homeland and they had love for it,” Rubio said in a 2015 interview with The Associated Press.
Rubio’s roots and his upbringing in Miami’s Cuban immigrant community strongly influenced his political views—particularly his opposition to communism. His background, strategic skills, and strong grasp of Caribbean and Latin American affairs make him “very effective in steering” U.S. policies in the region, Evan Ellis, a Latin America research professor for the U.S. Army War College, told The Epoch Times.
Cuban Americans “have been very proud of Secretary Rubio,” John Suarez, executive director at Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba, told The Epoch Times.
“He understands the international community and has deep knowledge of Latin America, particularly the dynamics of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua,” Suarez said.
Rubio had warned about the threats the Maduro regime posed for years.
“The crisis in Venezuela has evolved into a national security threat to the U.S. that must be addressed,” Rubio wrote in a 2018 message on X (then Twitter), expressing concerns similar to those that Trump recently raised.
“The Maduro regime is an organized crime syndicate that traffics drugs onto our streets, is driving a dangerous migratory crisis and has invited Putin to open military bases.”
After being captured in Caracas by the U.S. military, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transferred to a jail in New York City on Jan. 3. He’s facing federal charges that include drug trafficking and collaborating with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. On Jan. 5, Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, took over the government as acting president.
