What did Marco Rubio say about China, Iran, Israel and Ukraine?

President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Sen. Marco Rubio, arguably the world's most vital diplomat, as his secretary of state may very well be a game-changer within the U.S.'s relationship with each its enemies and its allies.

Rubio, considered a foreign policy hawk, was fiercely critical of China and Iran, considered the United States' biggest economic and geopolitical opponents, but additionally expressed ambivalence about continued support for Ukraine, echoing Trump's stance that war with Russia must come to an end.

A vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio was formally named secretary of state by Trump late Wednesday as he named his top White House team following his decisive election victory last week.

“He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down before our adversaries.” Trump said this in a press release on his Truth Social platform.

Rubio's nomination, along together with his assertive stance on foreign policy issues and his criticism of America's rivals, could ease concerns amongst U.S. allies that the world's strongest economy could retreat from the worldwide stage amid Trump's “America First” policies.

Before his nomination and after Trump's victory, Rubio told CNN that the US was entering “an era of pragmatic foreign policy.”

“The world is changing rapidly. You know, the opponents are uniting – in North Korea, Iran, China, Russia – [and] “We need to increasingly coordinate,” Rubio said. “It will require us to be very pragmatic and smart about how we invest abroad and what we do.”

The relationship between Trump and Rubio was not at all times easy. Both men ran for president in 2016 and clashed bitterly within the race for the Republican nomination. Trump described Rubio as “Little Marco” and Rubio made fun of Trump’s “little hands.”

At the time, Rubio was critical of Trump's isolationist foreign policy stance. Back in 2016, he said, “The world without American involvement is a world that none of us want to live with,” arguing against Trump’s position that the U.S. gives greater than it gets through its interactions with the international community.

However, Rubio has since made peace with the president-elect and supported him in his presidential campaign.

Rubio's office didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment about his recent role, but here’s a snapshot of the 53-year-old politician's comments on a number of the U.S.'s biggest foreign policy challenges that signal what we will expect from the brand new Secretary of State:

“This report should serve as a wake-up call for lawmakers, CEOs and investors,” Rubio said, calling for “a whole-of-society effort to rebuild our country, meet the China challenge and keep the torch of freedom burning for generations.” come.”

There is not any love for Rubio in Beijing. In 2020, Rubio and other senior U.S. officials were sanctioned by China during a round of sanctions against Beijing and Washington.

It is uncertain how a Trump administration and incoming Secretary Rubio will approach Iran, with both Republicans sending mixed signals on a punitive or more pragmatic policy stance.

Trump sparked international consternation in his first term when he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, which critics warned against Iran's nuclear weapons capability would thus be achieved sooner rather than later.

Before his election victory last week, Trump signaled he was open to striking a new nuclear deal with Iran, but told reporters in New York: “I would definitely do this.” “We need to make a deal because the results are inconceivable. We need to make a deal,” he said. in comments reported by Politico.

For his part, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that the country “must deal with the US at the regional and international levels.” Reuters reported, This signals that Iran may be open to talks.

However, a brand new nuclear deal won’t go down well in Israel, a rustic whose “protector” Trump called himself through the campaign. Rubio has also been a vocal critic of Iran and a staunch supporter of Israel, which continues its attacks on Iranian proxies, the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively.

In late September, Rubio supported the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. tells NBC News that “Israel has no choice but to defend itself. To wipe out not only Nasrallah but also the top leadership of this evil organization is, in my opinion, a service to humanity.” He also said that Iran's goal in the Middle East is to “drive America out of the region and then Israel destroy”.

Rubio also didn't rule out a pragmatic approach to Tehran, telling NBC News: “If the Iranian regime said tomorrow, 'We're going to stop trying to be the regional power, we're going to stop our nuclear weapons, we'll stop.'” “We'll stop “supporting terrorism, we're going to stop killing you – what they're trying to do with Donald Trump – we're going to stop all those things,” in theory yes, you could do something like work that out.

Still, he added that the scenario was “unlikely as this is the regime’s real mission and purpose.” Iran has rejected US allegations that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Trump.

There is widespread agreement that the brand new Trump administration will probably be much more hostile to more military aid to Ukraine, which is able to significantly limit its ability to proceed to ward off against Russia. It can be seen as likely that a Republican government will push Kiev into peace talks with Russia by which it would be forced at hand over occupied land to its neighbor as a part of a peace deal.

Rubio has insisted he’s “not on Russia’s side,” but he said NBC News in late September that “unfortunately the reality is that the war in Ukraine will end with a negotiated solution.”

“We hope that at this point the Ukrainian side will have more influence than the Russian side. I think that's really the goal here. And I think that’s it.” [former President] Donald Trump is attempting to say it,” Rubio said.

The senator was initially a vocal supporter of Ukraine, but his and other Republicans' support has waned because the funding bill has ballooned after 32 months of war and domestic issues remain unresolved.

Rubio was amongst a small group of hard-line Republicans who voted against a $95 billion aid package to assist Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel in April. He said he opposed the bill since the US was not doing enough to deal with its own domestic challenges comparable to border security and immigration.