Marco Rubio will be true friend to allies, warrior against rivals: Trump

US Senator Marco Rubio, who has been nominated as Secretary of State, will be a be a strong advocate for the US, a true friend to its allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to adversaries, President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday.

"It is my great honour to announce that Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is hereby nominated to be The United States Secretary of State," Trump said making a formal announcement in this regard.

Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom, he said.

"He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries. I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!" Trump said in his statement, which came soon after his meeting with outgoing President Joe Biden.

 

According to the Trump Transition team, Rubio was born in 1971 in Miami, Florida as the son of two Cuban immigrants pursuing the American Dream. His father worked as a banquet bartender, while his mother split time as a stay-at-home mom and hotel maid. From an early age, Rubio learned the importance of faith, family, community, and dignified work to the good life, the team said.

"Rubio was drawn to public service in large part because of conversations with his grandfather, who saw his homeland destroyed by communism. After meeting and marrying his wife Jeanette and earning degrees from the University of Florida and the University of Miami Law School, Rubio served as a city commissioner in West Miami and Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. In 2010, he won a seat in the US Senate," it said.

"During his first term, Rubio experienced the Washington gridlock. Efforts at reform met tough resistance from extreme partisanship and an engrained elite establishment, both of which benefitted from the status quo. Rubio also saw firsthand the communities the establishment had left behind: towns and cities devastated by the loss of dignified work and corroded by a culture that had forgotten the need for faith, family, and community," it said.

Now in his third term, he continues to enact common-sense policies that create good jobs, strengthen communities, and protect Americans from the Chinese Communist Party, the transition team said.

In addition to providing award-winning constituent service, Rubio has authored hundreds of new laws, including some that are truly transformational. He led the effort to reform the US Department of Veterans Affairs and provide health care benefits to veterans suffering from toxic burn pit exposure, it added.

"He doubled the federal child tax credit for working families. He kept millions of small businesses afloat during the pandemic lockdowns, through the historic Paycheck Protection Program. And he secured generous funding for Everglades restoration efforts," it said.

Rubio also wrote and passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which represents the greatest turning point in US-China relations in decades. For these achievements and more, the Center for Effective Lawmaking consistently ranks Rubio among the three most effective senators in Congress.