Donald Trump nominated Marco Rubio to be Secretary Of State.  I think there’s little doubt he’ll sail through his Senate hearings, being, as he is, a member in good standing of “the club.”

Yeah, yeah, I hear you, MAGA.  “He’s a deep state snake! He signed off on that disgraceful Senate Intelligence Committee report befouling Trump with page after page of half-baked Russian innuendo!”  I know. I know.  But part of the answer to why Rubio won’t be a problem is right there in front of you!

He won’t be Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee in a new Republican majority Senate, and he was due to take the gavel! 

So that’s a very, very good thing. 

And it’s likely the only way he’d ever be removed from that committee.

Now, that’s not to say the next Republican to take his place won’t be just as snake-y, but we can’t help or control that so calm down.  No need to get worked up over things you can’t control.

But the best part? That nobody is talking about?

Secretary of State under a Trump presidency is at best a ceremonial role.

Why?

Trump is his own Secretary of State.

Nobody can do “diplomacy” quite like The Boss, and if you recall, The Boss took all the foreign meetings, managed them himself, and only sent Rex Tillerson/Mike Pompeo on errands which didn’t require his unique talents.  Heck, he didn’t even bother to invite Tillerson/Pompeo to some foreign dignitary meetings, and their absence was memorable for the break in tradition.  You almost always see a Secretary of State sitting right next to POTUS whenever a foreign head of state is having a face-to-face with the American president but that was notably not so more than once in the first term.  And I would argue not more was made of it because everyone just understood what I’m saying here:

Trump is his own Secretary or State.

In fact, I’d argue that the best a Trump Secretary of State can do is simply not muck up the message.  Not mucking up will be the best outcome on any given day for Rubio.  Should he go off the reservation, you can be sure he will hear about it from The Boss.  Trump doesn’t have to tolerate disloyalty from this cabinet member, above all others, because foreign policy is the one area a president has almost plenary control over, so he won’t take kindly to having it, more than every other area, mucked with.  He doesn’t have to tolerate it also because the easiest thing to do with a Secretary of State who’s misbehaving is ground him.  Just don’t send him anywhere.  Keep him at Foggy Bottom answering emails all day.  At least if he goes rogue at State, there will be a record of it.

No, Rubio isn’t a problem.  Trump knows.  Trump knows Rubio hates the Senate. (He said as much during his run for president in 2016.) Trump knows Rubio will love having Secretary of State on his resume, so when he decides to run for president again, he can point to a peaceful world attained under his and Trump’s leadership.  You know it’s coming.  It’s just a question of when: will he wait out J.D. Vance running in 2028?  Or will he jump in?  That’s a calculation he will have to make, but make no mistake, this gig is a presidential-run resume-enhancer for Rubio and everyone knows it.

Image: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0