Secretary of State Marco Rubio drops major updates in his year-end press conference on U.S. foreign policy breakthroughs! From progress in Ukraine peace talks and Gaza ceasefire efforts to strengthening Indo-Pacific alliances against China – discover how the Trump administration is asserting American strength globally. Is this the start of real change in these hotspots?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida, and attended law school at the University of Miami. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected in 2000 to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives. As the Republican majority leader, he was subsequently elected speaker of the Florida House; he served for two years beginning in November 2006. Rubio left the Florida legislature in 2008 due to term limits, and began teaching 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.

In November 2024, President-elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Rubio to be secretary of state in his second administration. Rubio was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and took office on January 21, 2025. On May 1, 2025, Trump announced that Rubio would become acting national security advisor, replacing Mike Waltz, while continuing to serve as secretary of state. This dual role was last held by Henry Kissinger from 1973 to 1975 (serving a combined tenure in one or both positions from 1969 to 1977) in the Nixon and Ford administrations. Rubio is also the acting archivist of the United States. —Wikipedia