Marco Rubio Outshines Henry Kissinger and Xi Jinping To Become USA's Next President

On May 4, US President Donald Trump speculated in an interview with NBC about who might lead the country after him. Trump began by stating that, despite pressure from his supporters, he does not plan to run for a third term. However, he acknowledged that the Trump Organization is selling hats that say "Trump 2028,” and that his advisers have proposed several ways to bypass constitutional limits.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by U.S. Department of State, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1951, states:
"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

One scenario reportedly prepared by Trump's team involves him running for vice president alongside J.D. Vance. If elected, Vance would then resign, allowing Trump to assume the presidency. However, the Constitution bars anyone ineligible to become president from running for vice president. Another scenario is encouraging Republican voters to manually write in Trump's name on ballots. While this practice is common, only nine states (Alabama, Iowa, Wyoming, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina) allow unrestricted write-in candidates. In other states, such votes are either discarded or require formal registration as a candidate.

"I'll be president for eight years — two terms. I've always thought that was important,” Trump said. "I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over [the presidency] to somebody — ideally a great Republican — to carry it forward," Donald Trump said.

While noting it was still "too early” to talk seriously about successors, Trump did name potential heirs to the Republican Party and his "Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement.

Current Vice President J.D. Vance appears to be one obvious contender. Despite declining approval ratings (which he claims not to trust), Vance stands out as one of the most prominent figures in the new administration. He made waves with his fiery speech at the Munich Security Conference, had quite an exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, and paid a controversial visit to Greenland. Vance has also courted conservative Catholics. On February 28, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, expressing confusion over the Pope's criticism of the administration's immigration policies; he was also the last politician to meet Pope Francis before the latter's death.

However, the first name Trump mentioned as a MAGA successor was not Vance, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Later, when asked specifically about potential Republican candidates for 2028, Trump admitted that vice presidents usually have an advantage in primaries.

How Rubio Surpassed Kissinger

A few days earlier, NBC News noted the rapid ascent of Rubio's political career. Not long ago, he risked being overshadowed by presidential envoys such as Keith Kellogg and especially Steve Witkoff, who had been assigned several major issues (Russia, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and nuclear negotiations with Iran). Rubio's influence in the White House and the Republican Party has grown significantly over the recent weeks: as Secretary of State, he has become one of Trump's closest allies, frequently appearing in the West Wing and regularly meeting with key MAGA figures. According to Reuters, Trump deeply trusts Rubio, who reliably carries out any task given to him.

In addition to the State Department, Rubio now leads the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Archives and Records Administration. Most notably, he was appointed Acting National Security Advisor to replace Mike Waltz (who has been nominated as the US Ambassador to the United Nations). Waltz's resignation has been linked by the media to a scandal involving a Signal chat discussing operations against Yemen's Houthis, where an editor from The Atlantic was accidentally included, as well as to Waltz's openly pro-Israel stance.

Vance claims that Waltz was promoted, but not punished. Rubio has thus become the first American politician since Henry Kissinger to simultaneously hold the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. In terms of the total number of positions held, he has already surpassed not only Henry Kissinger but also Chinese leader Xi Jinping — who holds only three — The New York Times noted dubbing Rubio the “minister of everything.”

As early as March, the nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington expressed concern about a conflict of interest: as the chief archivist of the United States, Rubio is responsible for ensuring that other federal agencies — including the two he also leads — properly preserve and transfer all records and documents to the National Archives. With his appointment as National Security Advisor, this conflict is at risk of deepening, NYT pointed out.

However, according to Trump, Rubio will only hold the position temporarily.

"Marco is very busy with other matters, so he’s not planning to stay in that role for long. We’re going to appoint someone else," the president said in an interview with NBC.

Marco Rubio's Hawkish Stance Toward Russia

Marco Rubio has maintained a consistently hawkish stance toward Russia. As a longtime member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees, he has frequently characterized Russia as a strategic adversary of the United States. Rubio has been a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin, accusing him of authoritarianism and aggressive foreign policy aimed at undermining Western democracies.

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Rubio has strongly supported Ukraine. He has advocated for continued U.S. military and financial aid to Kyiv, emphasizing the importance of resisting Russian aggression not just for Ukraine’s sovereignty, but for global stability and deterrence. He views the conflict as a critical front in the broader struggle between democratic and authoritarian systems.

• 2014 – Crimea Annexation: Rubio strongly condemned Russia's annexation of Crimea, calling it a violation of international law. He urged the Obama administration to provide lethal aid to Ukraine and impose harsher sanctions on Moscow.
• 2017 – Russian Alleged Election Interference: As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Rubio supported investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. He warned that Russia would attempt to influence future democratic processes.
• 2021 – Nord Stream 2 Opposition: Rubio opposed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, arguing it would increase Europe's energy dependence on Russia and strengthen Putin’s geopolitical leverage. He backed sanctions against companies involved.
• 2022 – Beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine: Rubio was among the first U.S. senators to call the invasion a "war of conquest" and pushed for increased military assistance to Ukraine, including advanced weapons systems.
• 2023 – Long-Term U.S. Commitment: Rubio stated that the U.S. must remain committed to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes to ensure Russian defeat, framing the conflict as a test of Western resolve.

Details

Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, attorney, and diplomat serving as the 72nd United States secretary of state since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Florida in the United States Senate from 2011 to 2025, and was a candidate during the 2016 Republican Party primary elections for president of the United States. During his tenure as secretary of state, he has also served in an acting capacity as the national security advisor, archivist of the United States, and administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. He has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected in 2000 to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives. As the Republican majority leader, he was subsequently elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Rubio left the Florida legislature in 2008 due to term limits, and began teaching at Florida International University. In a three-way race, Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. In April 2015, he launched a presidential bid instead of seeking reelection. He suspended his campaign for the presidency on March 15, 2016, after losing to Donald Trump in the Florida Republican primary. He then ran for reelection to the Senate and won a second term. Despite his criticism of Trump during his presidential campaign, Rubio endorsed him before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of his presidency.