As President Donald Trump overturns traditional U.S. alliances and transforms America’s role in the world, Marco Rubio has become the point man for carrying out the president’s “America first” policies.

It’s been a long journey for Rubio, one that saw him evolve from Trump critic to the president’s right-hand man, carrying the joint titles of secretary of state and national security adviser.

Now he has a prime seat at the table, whether that is in bilateral meetings at the United Nations, sitdowns with other leaders in the Oval Office, state dinners at Windsor Castle — where he sat to the left of King Charles III — or small group policy discussions in Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ office.

“There is one leader. His name is Donald Trump, and in the area of foreign policy, just under Donald Trump is Marco Rubio,” Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East, told the Miami Herald.

It’s a remarkable testament to the 54-year-old’s political survival skills. Nine years ago, Rubio and Trump were at each other’s throats in the 2016 presidential primary, which left their relationship in tatters and Rubio’s future in the party unsettled.

But he recalibrated, created trust with Trump during his political exile and ended up in the small circle of top players in the president’s second term. Once inside that group, instead of crashing and burning like so many other Trump officials, Rubio has thrived, gaining power, positions and responsibilities, even extending his influence beyond foreign affairs into domestic policy.

Critics say it’s come at a price that includes injecting Trump’s personal politics into the State Department and shifting his own policy positions to make himself more amenable to the president.

Daniel Drezner, a political science professor at Tufts University who has studied Rubio’s career, describes the secretary as “ideologically flexible.”

“The 2016 version of Rubio would be appalled at the 2025 version of Rubio, but the 2025 version of Rubio is a survivor,” he said.

In less than six months, Rubio — whom the State Department declined to make available for an interview for this article — amassed the kind of foreign policy power last seen by Henry Kissinger. Like Rubio, Kissinger held the top position at State and served as national security adviser, but Rubio has perhaps surpassed Kissinger’s influence by weighing in on domestic policy as well.

“Frankly, his job is foreign policy, but in domestic policy too — there isn’t an area where he doesn’t have some awareness or an ability to provide decent counsel,” a senior administration official said of Rubio.

Some critics say that is too much power and influence for one person. But the one person who matters — President Trump — is happy. And the two jobs are Rubio’s until he no longer wants them, those close to the president say.

“When he raises his hand and says ‘I can’t do any more,’ then we’ll be serious about finding a replacement. But from our side, we won’t be looking,” said the official.

In the West Wing

It’s a sharp contrast from Trump’s first term, when Rex Tillerson only made it a year as secretary of state and Trump went through six national security advisers.

But, inside the 40,000 square feet of the West Wing, Rubio has outlasted any rivals, including Elon Musk, who fought with Rubio over cuts to the State Department.

And, on foreign affairs, he’s ensured his voice is the loudest voice in the room. Rubio has taken the lead on Venezuela, with Ric Grenell, the special envoy to Venezuela, being sidelined. He’s formed a friendship with Witkoff, whose special envoy status led to questions about Rubio’s power in the foreign policy realm.

Witkoff, who repeatedly referred to Rubio as his “boss,” called reports about conflict between the two men “preposterous.”

“In every dimension, he makes me better,” Witkoff said. “He’s got a great view of the world. He’s got a lot of experience with a lot of the countries we deal with. We have conversations all the time about how to process things, the protocol of how to go through decision making. He’s just made me a better envoy.”

Rubio also has a powerful ally in Wiles, whom he’s known since 2010. The two have a long history from their days in Florida politics. They and Vice President JD Vance have formed a triumvirate of power, along with a personal bond. Seated next to one another in the front row of Trump’s press conference this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the trio whispered among themselves and laughed at each other’s quips while they waited for the event to begin.

It’s in Wiles’ spacious corner office, four doors down from the Oval, where she, Vance and Rubio gather to hash out policy issues before taking their recommendations to President Trump.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth often joins them. Sometimes CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine are at the table.

Others come into the fold as needed. Stephen Miller is part of the conversation when homeland security is discussed. Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair is in the room when lawmakers on Capitol Hill should be briefed. And Communications Director Steven Cheung joins when there’s a press or communications element.

Rubio balances his duties as secretary of state and national security adviser in a simple way: he splits his time between his two offices, typically spending mornings at the State Department and afternoons at the White House when he’s not on travel.

His office is in the West Wing’s corridor of power, down the hall from Wiles and the Oval. He shares a wall with Vance. And he frequently works the phone, talking to his colleagues up to seven times a day.

In that tight space, where Trump aides tend to keep a war-like mentality of it’s “us vs. them,” Rubio has made himself indispensable.

The president often takes his advice, said the senior administration official, adding: “I can’t think of a time where he didn’t.”

And it’s paid off, garnering Rubio four different positions: secretary of state, national security adviser, acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development and acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration — although he recently gave up the USAID gig.

He’s only paid for the secretary of state role. Still, the work load doesn’t bother him.

“We had a conversation early in the summer about what he was going to do for a vacation. He said, I’m just not going to take one for four years. I’ll have lots of time after that,” an administration official said.

Despite the long hours and heavy work load, Rubio finds time to decompress by watching football. He’s obsessed with high school and college action and is a fervent Miami Dolphins fan.

Rubio played defensive back in high school. But his abilities have expanded since then. Wiles, the White House chief of staff, told the Herald that, with Trump playing quarterback, Rubio could play wide receiver or right tackle, shifting easily between the defensive and offensive roles when it comes to serving the president.

“The right tackle weighs 350 pounds, 400 pounds of iron. And he’s like a human fire plug,” said Wiles, noting the two roles are very different, equally important and difficult to play. “And, of course, the wide receiver is the nimble, fast, smart person that gets the ball to the end zone.”

“I don’t know anybody else who I could say that about,” she added.

The Herald spoke to several administration officials, all of whom spoke of the secretary of state in glowing terms. Vance, in a statement, described Rubio as someone who “works tirelessly” and is a “true asset” to the administration. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said everyone in the West Wing “loves him.”

Entering Trump world

Rubio worked his way inside Trump’s world with time, patience and a lot of phone calls.

After Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, the president moved to Florida and became Rubio’s most famous constituent. The two spoke regularly on the phone, with Rubio always taking the then-former president’s calls.

Where some members of the GOP looked to split from Trump as prosecutions and allegations mounted, Rubio treaded carefully when it came to matters like the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.

“He went out of his way to never criticize the president publicly. If there was a disagreement, to try to solve it quietly,” said a source close to Rubio.

Carlos Trujillo, who knows both men well and served as Trump’s ambassador to OAS in his first term, described Trump and Rubio as workaholics who are close to their families and love their kids.

“If you see them, they’re very, very similar, like that,” Trujillo said. “And I can tell you, at least with Rubio, he’s very good at understanding his role.”

Rubio made inroads with the Trump family.

He continued his good relationship with Ivanka Trump, a Miami resident who was once touted as a possible political rival. Instead, the two worked together on family issues like the child tax credit.

And he courted Don Jr., the president’s oldest son, who expressed skepticism in the past about Rubio’s loyalty. Early on in his tenure as secretary of state, Rubio was on his podcast. The secretary also sat down with Lara Trump, the president’s daughter in law, for an interview on her TV show.

Rubio learned how to carve out a meaningful role with Trump.

“He’s been so successful with President Trump, because he realizes that he is the president of the United States, and it’s Rubio’s job to bring the best information forward in order for him to make the best decisions. He’s never tried to replace the president. He doesn’t try to be a substitute for the president. He tries to be the President’s trusted confidant, advisor,” said Trujillo, now president of the Continental Strategy lobbying firm.

Simply put, Rubio acknowledged and capitulated to Trump’s power. And it resulted in an offer to become secretary of state.

“When he made up his mind to take the job — which he didn’t seek, we sought him — he just made up his mind that he would be open to looking at the world another way, and he has done that,” said the senior administration official.

One example: As a senator, Rubio was a vocal supporter of USAID but as secretary of state he oversaw its dismantlement when the agency became a target of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Rubio, the child of Cuban immigrants, has also led the charge on denying visas to a series of groups, including foreign students who want to study at American schools, and canceling visas of those who protested in favor of Palestine.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and you move on and try to have a productive relationship,” the Rubio adviser said.

More importantly, he’s demonstrated to Trump two things that are important to the president: He’ll carry out Trump’s political agenda and he’ll deliver wins.

“One other thing he’s done that I think has probably won him a lot of support within the White House,” said Drezner, the political science professor, “he’s been willing to use the powers of the Secretary of State to advance aspects of Trump’s agenda that would never be thought of as foreign policy. Particularly visa denials and immigration restriction.”

Carrie Filipetti, the former deputy special representative for Venezuela at the State Department in Trump’s first term, said then-Senator Rubio regularly called her during Trump’s first term to talk about that area of the world.

She said Rubio delivered Trump a “win” from the start when he made his first foreign trip to Panama. He echoed Trump’s concerns about the canal and told the government there to end China’s influence, carrying out the president’s goals.

“I do not think enough people gave him the credit that he deserved when he left for Panama and when he came back, essentially all of the things that President Trump had hoped to see done were moving forward,” said Filipetti, now executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition. “And you don’t often see results like that from trips, especially first trips. But this was really setting the stage, I think, for the fact that this administration is going to insist on outcomes.”

And it propelled Rubio even higher in Trump’s orbit

“It’s not just that he’s survived,” Filipetti said. “I mean, he’s truly thriving.”

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