Marco Rubio set to be Trump’s secretary of state

Trump and Rubio on the campaign trail earlier this month
Trump and Rubio on the campaign trail earlier this month - AP

Donald Trump is set to appoint Marco Rubio as the new US Secretary of State.

The senator for Florida will become the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat, according to sources close to the president-elect.

Mr Rubio was one of the more hawkish names on the shortlist for Secretary of State and the 53-year-old has hardline views on China and Iran.

Over the last few years, Mr Rubio has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Mr Trump’s views. The president-elect has accused past US presidents, including current president Joe Biden, of leading America into costly and futile wars and has pushed for a more restrained foreign policy.

Mr Trump has vowed from “day one” of his second term in the White House to negotiate an end to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Since his first term, Beijing has also aligned itself more closely with Moscow and Iran, amid deepening global divisions.

The Ukraine crisis will be high on Mr Rubio’s agenda.

He has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade.

Mr Rubio was also one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95 billion (£74 billion) military aid package for Ukraine, which cleared Congress in April.

“I’m not on Russia’s side — but unfortunately the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement,” Mr Rubio told NBC in September.

Mr Rubio, whose grandfather fled Cuba in 1962, is also an outspoken opponent of normalising relations with the Cuban government, a position Mr Trump shares.

While he was far from the most isolationist option, Mr Rubio’s likely selection nonetheless underlines a broad shift in Republican foreign policy views under Mr Trump.

Mr Rubio’s selection is also significant domestically given Mr Trump’s success in winning over the Latino vote at last week’s presidential election, as many Latinos switched from the Democrats to the Republicans.

He was also considered as a possible running mate for Mr Trump, who ultimately picked JD Vance.

It comes as Mr Trump has in recent days been assembling his top team ahead of his inauguration in January.

On Monday, he appointed the fiercely pro-Israel Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik as the next US ambassador to the UN.

Mr Rubio ran against Mr Trump for the Republican nomination in 2016 but could not keep pace with the future president or Texas senator Ted Cruz.

Representatives for Mr Trump and Mr Rubio did not immediately respond to requests for comment.