Marco Rubio, 72nd U.S. Secretary of State

Marco Rubio is an American politician, diplomat, and attorney serving as the 72nd United States secretary of state since 2025, under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a United States senator from Florida from 2011 to 2025 and as the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008.

Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught 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 the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Rubio endorsed him before the 2016 general election and was largely supportive of his presidency. Due to his influence on U.S. policy on Latin America during the first Trump administration, he was described as a "virtual secretary of state for Latin America". He is also considered one of Congress's most hawkish members with regard to China and the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese government sanctioned him twice in 2020 and he is banned from entering China. Rubio became Florida's senior senator in January 2019, following the defeat of former Senator Bill Nelson, and was reelected to a third term in 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Val Demings in a landslide victory. Rubio endorsed Trump for president in 2024 days before the Iowa caucuses.

In November 2024, President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Rubio as United States Secretary of State in his second administration, and Rubio was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. Rubio is the first Latino to serve in the position, making him the highest-ranking Hispanic and Latino official in U.S. history. Rubio is also the first Floridian to serve as Secretary of State.

Family life

Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, the second son and third child of Mario Rubio Reina and Oriales (née García) Rubio. His parents were Cubans who immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the regime of Fulgencio Batista, two and a half years before Fidel Castro ascended to power after the Cuban Revolution. Rubio has three siblings: older brother Mario, older sister Barbara (married to Orlando Cicilia), and younger sister Veronica (formerly married to entertainer Carlos Ponce).

In 1998, Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in a Catholic ceremony at the Church of the Little Flower. They have four children. Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.

All text above via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

• "Marco Rubio." Wikipedia, revision of 21 January 2025. < link > Accessed 21 January 2025.

• Wikipedia, Español