(The Center Square) – Safety, strength and prosperity will be the key objectives of the U.S. Department of State under the second Trump administration, Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
The main problem with America’s current foreign policy strategy, Rubio stated, is that it fails to protect our national interests, leading to less domestic prosperity, and it also fails to enforce deterrence against global aggression, resulting in “an invitation to war.”
“Promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home – that is the promise that President Trump was elected to keep. And if I am confirmed, keeping that promise will be the core mission of the United States Department of State,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Rubio also promised to use tax dollars wisely by placing American interests before any other objectives.
“Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue, must be justified by the answer to one of three questions: does it make America safer, does it make America stronger, or does it make America more prosperous?” he said.
While he affirmed Trump’s commitment to remain in the NATO alliance and support U.S. allies, Rubio also emphasized that the U.S. must also exercise prudence and recognize it doesn’t have infinite power and resources.
“Placing our core national interest above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio said. “I think there’s been broad acknowledgement across Europe and across multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat, that our NATO partners – these are rich, advanced economies – need to contribute more to their own defense, and ultimately to the NATO partnership as well.”
Several members of the committee wanted guarantees that the U.S. will not fold to Russian president Vladimir Putin in the process of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Rubio said that, realistically, achieving peace will probably require some concessions on both sides, and hinted that it is unlikely Ukraine will be able to recover all its land given the geographical size difference.
“What Vladimir Putin has done is unacceptable, no doubt about it, but this war has to end,” Rubio said. “Now what that master plan looks like is going to be hard work.”
While the hearing was happening, news broke that Israel and Hamas apparently reached a ceasefire, which will include the release of at least some American hostages. Rubio said that while the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been “terrible,” international courts are wrong to accuse Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Hamas as war crimes.
“There is a difference between those in the conduct of armed action deliberately target civilians … and those that do as much as they can to avoid civilians being caught up, against an enemy that doesn’t wear a uniform, against an enemy that hides in tunnels, against an enemy that hides behind women and children, and puts them at the forefront and uses them as human shields,” said Rubio. “That’s who Hamas is. There is no moral equivalency.”
On the other hand, Rubio conceded, a two-state solution is still theoretically possible, as long as the Palestinians choose leaders who are not members of terrorist organizations like Hamas, or other figures who seek to destroy Israel’s existence.
Regarding America’s policies in the Middle East in general, Rubio affirmed Trump’s support for building upon the Abraham Accords, particularly by ensuring that each country sees clear benefits and thus will remain more inclined to keep their promises.
But China poses one of the greatest foreign threats to American security, Rubio emphasized, and it will require the U.S. to strengthen deterrence measures and stop capitulating to the Chinese whenever they violate military and trade agreements.
“What cannot continue to happen is that China continues to assume all of the benefits of the international system and none of its obligations,” he insisted. “All the benefits of global trade and commerce, and none of its obligations.”
It is equally important that America avoid dependency on Chinese industry for access to resources, he added, which will require America to boost its domestic industry and regain energy independence.
“The core of our strategy has to be twofold: number one, ensuring that there is a proper geopolitical balance between the United States and China, to avoid any sort of conflict that could be deeply destabilizing and worse for the world,” Rubio said.
“And at the same time, ensuring that it doesn’t come at our expense, that we don’t find ourselves in a world in which we are dependent on China, or any foreign power for that matter, for the raw materials that we need.”
China recently stopped supplying ingredients for fentanyl to Mexican cartels, but fentanyl continues to flood America as Mexican cartels traffic it across the southern border.
One of the first effective steps the State Department can take to counter this, Rubio said, is to designate those cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which will unlock more national security tools and resources to take them down.
He also nudged Mexican authorities to do their part in cracking down on cartels and migrants travelling through the country on their way to the U.S., before they even reach the border.
Throughout the hearing, Rubio displayed a vast range of knowledge about current conflicts in countries throughout South America, including Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. While military intervention in those places is likely not the answer, Rubio said, the U.S. must commit to policies that encourage stability and democracy without sacrificing its own interests.
Ultimately, Rubio concluded, a successful State Department is one that ensures “the alignment of our foreign policy to our national interests” and is “a source of creative ideas and effective implementation.”
Rubio received a warm bipartisan reception from the committee, in stark contrast with Pete Hegseth’s reception by Democrats during his Defense secretary confirmation hearing. Committee members indicated they are highly likely to confirm Rubio as SOS.
