‘CHINA HAWKS’: Rubio and Michael Waltz, who is said to be next national security adviser, view Beijing as a threat and challenge to US economic and military might
AFP, WASHINGTON
US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced new members of his incoming administration and was expected to pick US Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.
Rubio and US Representative Michael Waltz, who has been lined up for the powerful US national security adviser role, have notably hawkish views on China, which they see as a threat and challenge to US economic and military might.
The two appointees, both from Florida, would be key architects of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, with the incoming president having promised to end the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, and avoid any more US military entanglements.
US Senator Marco Rubio speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 29.
Photo: AFP
The 78-year-old Republican tycoon has vowed his second stint in power would result in a radical shake-up of the federal government.
Trump on Monday announced immigration official Tom Homan as the country’s “border czar,” tasking him with fulfilling his key domestic promise of mass deportations of undocumented migrants.
US media also reported that Stephen Miller, the author of Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban” immigration policy during his first term, was set to be his deputy chief of staff with a broad portfolio.
US Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, a hardline defender of Israel, got the nod for UN ambassador, Trump’s transition team said in a statement.
In a further announcement, Lee Zeldin, an early political ally, would be proposed as head of the Environmental Protection Agency with a mandate to slash climate and pollution regulations that are considered red tape by businesses.
Top nominations, including for Stefanik, Zeldin and secretary of state, would need approval by the US Senate, but Trump is hoping to bypass oversight from the upper chamber by making appointments while it is in recess.
He has turned the issue into a loyalty test, insisting on Saturday that any Republican seeking to be the leader of the senate “must agree” to recess appointments.
The three senators jockeying for the post immediately issued statements saying they supported the move, or were at least open to the idea.
The likely nomination of Rubio, which was reported by US outlets the New York Times, the Washington Post and Politico, would cap a remarkable turnaround in relations between the two men.
In 2016, when they were competing for the Republican presidential nomination, Rubio called Trump a “con artist” and the “most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.”
Rubio, who is of Cuban heritage, first made his name in foreign policy as a vociferous opponent of Cuba and its leftist allies in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.
He has since become one of the most outspoken senators against Beijing, seeking to make it more difficult for Chinese firms to operate in the US and leading congressional efforts to punish China on human rights grounds over its treatment of the Uighur minority.
Trump has also picked South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, CNN reported yesterday, citing two sources.
Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for Trump, is currently serving her second four-year term as governor after a landslide re-election victory in 2022. She rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Noem had a turbulent few months politically this year.
She faced widespread backlash in April when she wrote in a memoir that she shot to death an “untrainable” dog that she “hated” on her family farm.
Trump’s campaign and Noem’s office did not respond to requests for comments outside regular business hours.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg
