All gloves are off between the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Peter Thiel’s faction within the Republican Party, today led by JD Vance. When Marco Rubio took on the role of State Secretary, it seemed shocking and surprising that Donald Trump’s previous Republican challenger would reject his long-held ideals and join an administration that is against everything he stands for.
President Donald Trump chose Marco Rubio for the role because he is competent but also because Marco Rubio is easily dispensable for him, especially in the field of foreign affairs where Trump would need someone to blame for his wreckage.
The Secretary of State took on his role not with cynicism, but with a ruthless, calculated and pragmatic vision of action which is now taking its course as it publicly overlaps with the position on Europe held by the US President and his cronies, Pete Hegseth and JD Vance. In his speech at the Munich Security Conference the US State Secretary gave a speech in which he celebrated Europe as it is, instead of making political demands: extolled our common histories and struggles, and most importantly, emphasised on the need for Europe and the US to do things in the world together.
This is not the same US foreign policy of the US National Security Strategy: Secretary Rubio will deny this and that he is following the President’s orders, but there are clearly two foreign-policies at play within the US government: the foreign policy of President Trump backed by Peter Thiel’s faction and Secretary Marco Rubio who in the US has now become a major political force to contend with. This can’t be clearer by comparing the State Secretary’s speech with JD Vance’s speech at the same conference last year.
Secretary Rubio has been successful in applying his very calculated approach at mediating President Trump’s policies but you need an eye for detail to notice this. He consistently set a different tone on Russia’s aggression compared to President Trump by primarily being more critical and hawkish on Russia and Vladimir Putin. He also opposed the US military aid cuts to Ukraine and blamed the decision on the President. He has been successful in cutting the UAE’s military supply routes to the Rapid Support Forces challenging the Emirati regime that has the propensity to bribe both the US and government and most of Europe simultaneously. In some occasions when President Trump issues outlandish orders, the State Secretary seems to be minimising, such as in this case when he avoided issuing the new directives through the DOS website. The State Secretary has been praised by Kyrylo Budanov and has now also earned the public praise of the EU’s Commissioner President Ursula von der Leyen.
His biggest mark yet has been in Venezuela, where he is managing most of the US operation and is slowly and surgically implementing a democratic change in Venezuela. María Corina Machado, says that if Venezuela becomes a democracy, a new democratic wave may sweep Latin America. Secretary Rubio is well positioned to strike major historic changes in Latin America.
Those who are cynical enough to refuse to believe that anything good can come out of the USA may argue that the State Secretary’s antics are just an act to dupe Europeans into believing that President Trump’s administration is not as bad as it looks. However, we are not naïve. Just because Secretary Rubio’s ideals align with ours in Europe, it doesn’t mean that we don’t see President Trump and his far-right big-tech funded faction as a threat. It simply means what it is and that the State Secretary, who does not have the executive power of the President, is Europe’s ally.
The 2026 Munich Security Conference has been eventful but more importantly it has also been a historic. Germany and France declared their plans for a new European nuclear deterrent and European leaders revived talk about a Ukrainian military victory. Meanwhile, Secretary Marco Rubio salvaged the Trans-Atlantic alliance and this historic achievement has propelled him in the US as a serious and major contender for the US Presidency.
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