After two months in office, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has shown that he is above all one thing: a loyal servant of his master Trump. He is not in the category of politicians who leave a lasting mark on world politics.
The US has had foreign ministers who have shaped world politics or have been able to set the political course of the respective American president. Henry Kissinger, for example, who first as national security advisor and then as secretary of state left his mark on two presidential terms: Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
As foreign minister under Trump, Marco Rubio does not fall into this category of politicians, comments the German public media ARD. So far, he has shown one thing: that he is a servant of his master, Donald Trump.
The president sends others on important missions
From the very beginning, Trump assigned his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians. The president did not entrust Rubio with his most important mission - talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where he again sent Witkoff, his old confidant and business partner from the time when he made real estate deals in New York.
As a senator, Rubio was an outspoken critic of Russia and supported military aid to Ukraine. When Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance humiliated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a conversation at the White House, it was clear that Rubio was simply sinking into the ground with shame. He clearly suffered along with Zelensky and sensed that a radical turn was taking place that contradicted his own convictions - from Kiev to Moscow.
"Little Marco"
Rubio, who is the child of immigrants from Cuba, faced Trump as the Republican Party's presidential candidate during the 2016 primary campaign. At the time, Trump mocked him, calling him "little Marco", ARD recalls.
Eight years later, the two are now allies. Trump brought him onto the political stage during his election campaign. However, this was only possible because Rubio underwent a transformation, which can also be said for the entire Republican Party. Rubio once criticized Trump's policies as "dangerous," but now he defends them, saying that Trump "approaches things not as a traditional politician or diplomat, but as a business person."
For the other NATO foreign ministers Rubio is meeting with in Brussels today, this means they cannot expect the top American diplomat to significantly sway Trump in their favor. They can only expect Rubio to at least explain what Trump actually wants - whether he will defend Ukraine as a sovereign state, whether he will keep NATO as an alliance, and if so, under what conditions.
Rubio also wants more money from Europe
Rubio certainly shares one demand of Trump: that the Europeans spend more money on defense, significantly more money. "Our NATO partners - and these are rich, developed economies - need to do more for their own defense and ultimately for the NATO partnership," is one of Rubio's key findings.
Another standard sentence refers to China. For Rubio, the country is an "economic, technological and geopolitical rival." In these two demands for the Europeans - more money for defense and greater distance from China - Rubio is in complete agreement with his master Trump, ARD also commented.