Lil’ Marco not big enough for the job
The Senate confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Monday by unanimous vote. This makes him the first Latino to serve as America’s top diplomat and the first cabinet secretary to be confirmed for Trump’s second term.
Except that Rubio’s role appears more about optics than authority. Granted, every president appoints special envoys, but they usually avoid undermining their secretary of state. With Trump, however, that seems to be the point. Because it appears he appointed Rubio to serve as little more than the Latino face of his racist immigration policies.
Trump’s DEI hire..? Not him
For Trump, the only DEI that matters are his “didn’t earn it” hires; you know, like the White, Entitled, and Incompetent (WEI) men he’s stacked his cabinet with. That’s why he’s busy appointing WEI envoys to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for the more prestigious diplomatic work.
Trump clearly thinks Rubio isn’t qualified to do this work — because he’s Latino. Yet the irony seems lost on Rubio that Trump is using his Latino heritage to confine him to Latin American affairs.
Case in point, Trump nominated another of his WEI billionaire friends as ambassador to Britain. But he also appointed Briton Mark Burnett — producer of The Apprentice, the show that turned Trump into a national celebrity — as his special envoy. Therefore, Rubio showing up in Britain as secretary of state would be like a Black man showing up in Alabama at a convention for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
For perspective, consider that former President George W. Bush nominated Colin Powell as the first Black secretary of state. But Bush didn’t then appoint a cabal of WEI envoys to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. After all, that would’ve made Powell seem like secretary of state only for Africa and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, besides rendering Rubio irrelevant, this diplomatic smorgasbord of envoys is a recipe for confusion and dysfunction. But that’s standard for Trump.
After all, recall the roving role his son-in-law Jared Kushner played in the first administration. Still, at least Trump’s White secretaries of state were welcomed as chief diplomats in capitals from Latin America to Europe, Africa, and Asia. Rubio would be naïve to expect a similar reception outside Latin America.
Interestingly enough, Trump is aping conservative leaders in the UK, who appoint non-Whites to front racist policies no self-respecting White would even countenance. Think of them as UK Uncle Toms. That’s why Rubio risks ridicule as a self-hating Latino, desperate to please an administration hell-bent on destroying the lives of millions of his fellow Latinos.
Rubio’s first assignment: Manifest Destiny in Central America
Rex Tillerson was Trump’s first secretary of state during his first term (2017–2021). More to the point, his first trip as America’s top diplomat was to Bonn, Germany. And, yes, Trump campaigned back then on stopping migrant caravans as much as he did this time. So it’s telling that Rubio’s first trip is a tour of Central America.
He’s scheduled to visit Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. But Rubio’s mission is less about fostering diplomacy and more about delivering Trump’s racist, Manifest Destiny rhetoric. He might use more diplomatic language, but Rubio will deliver Trump’s infamous complaint about these countries allowing the flow of migrant “murderers, rapists, and drug dealers” to the US border.
Even so, the highlight of Rubio’s trip will be Panama, where he’s expected to make the president an offer he can’t refuse: return the Panama Canal to US control or end up like your predecessor, Manuel Noriega.
So, on the one hand, Trump will have this Latino deliver an anti-immigration message that so dehumanizes Latinos that Anglican Bishop Budde, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, pleaded with him at his own inaugural service to show mercy and grace.
These are, after all, the key tenets of the evangelical Christian faith he claims to champion. On the other hand, Trump will have this Latino deliver an ultimatum dripping with Yankee imperialism not seen since President Teddy Roosevelt’s “big stick” diplomacy.