Even as it was happening on Friday, the Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was being cast as one of America’s darkest moments on the world stage. The televised dress down of an embattled democratic ally sent an undeniable signal that Trump’s long history of flirting with Vladimir Putin’s autocratic Russia had gone full tilt—a prelude to his announcement Monday evening that he was pausing all US military aid to Ukraine. On Tuesday afternoon, Zelenskyy publicly offered a reset on the peace process.
Perhaps nothing personified the old-guard foreign policy reaction to the Friday meeting more than the image of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sitting on the sofa next to a grinning Vance. The tableau instantly became the stuff of memes, body-language expert reactions, and Saturday Night Live cold opens. (Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, looked at Marcello Hernández playing his top diplomat and quipped: “Man, look at Rubio over there, fully dissociating.”)
While Rubio was quick to get in line in the days after the Zelenskyy showdown, the historic confrontation did indeed reveal a fault line inside the administration: Rubio is privately frustrated that Trump has effectively sidelined him. According to four prominent Republicans close to the White House, Rubio, who has been a Russia hawk and Ukraine supporter, has told people he is upset by his lack of foreign policy influence despite being, on paper at least, the administration’s top diplomat. One of the sources said they felt as though Rubio is often the last to know when foreign policy decisions are made in the White House.
According to Republicans I spoke with, Rubio’s unhappiness with Trump was brewing before Zelenskyy’s visit went sideways. Two of the sources said Rubio was caught off guard when Trump appointed nine foreign policy “envoys” with high-profile assignments such as ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“The envoys all have offices in the White House,” one of those sources said, which gives people the impression that the envoys have more access to Trump than Rubio. During his Senate confirmation hearings in January, Rubio said, “The way this will work, and how I anticipate it will work, is these envoys work for the president in coordination with us.”
The source added that Rubio also disapproved of Trump’s decision to revoke former secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s government security detail. “Marco and Pompeo are close, so that decision was egg on Marco’s face,” the source said. (When asked about Pompeo’s security on The Megyn Kelly Show in January, Rubio said, “We don’t want to see any Americans harmed, but those decisions about who we provide security for have to be based on a risk assessment. And those risk assessments were done, and it led to that outcome and that conclusion.”)
Reached for comment on this story, a spokesperson for the State Department said, “We are fielding an incredibly high volume of inquiries. We refer you to transcripts and readouts of Secretary Rubio’s recent meetings and public remarks for insights and information on these matters.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Rubio didn’t seem like a natural MAGA warrior when Trump selected him to run Foggy Bottom. The former Florida senator came up in the Jeb Bush wing of the GOP, and his style still hews establishment. And, of course, Trump and Rubio have history. Trump mocked Rubio as “liddle Marco” when they competed against each other in the 2016 GOP primary. After Trump conquered the party, Rubio accommodated and worked to earn Trump’s approval. Trump endorsed Rubio when Rubio ran for reelection in 2021. Trump and Rubio patched things up well enough that Trump almost selected Rubio to be his 2024 running mate.
“Trump has Marco at State because it’s the consolation prize,” a Republican close to both told me.
In recent days, Rubio has vocally defended Trump, perhaps as a way to get ahead of a narrative that there’s tension between them. Shortly after Zelenskyy left the White House, Rubio effusively praised Trump on X. On Sunday, Rubio criticized Zelenskyy during an interview on ABC News. The question is how long Rubio will support the administration as Trump drives American foreign policy into uncharted waters. One of the sources I spoke with speculated that Rubio will only last in the job 18 months before he resigns.
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