Trump’s praise for Rubio underscores secretary’s ‘MAGA halo’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s stock is rising as a consequence of President Trump’s Middle East peace agreement, cementing his status as a key member of Trump’s inner circle and a formidable potential 2028 presidential contender.
Trump highlighted numerous administration officials who were instrumental in getting the peace deal across the finish line, but it was his praise for Rubio — given both at the Knesset in Israel and in remarks to world leaders in Egypt — that stood out.
“I have a prediction that Marco will go down — I mean this — as the greatest secretary of State in the history of the United States. I believe that,” Trump said at the Knesset.
“He and I, you know, we really fought it out. You remember? He was tough. He was nasty,” Trump added. “Who the hell thought this was going to happen, Marco?”
Trump’s praise, Rubio’s expansive portfolio and his appeal to both MAGA voters and more traditional Republicans alike have put the Florida Republican squarely in the spotlight for the looming 2028 primary.
“The reality is that what President Trump has right now is a grip on the Republican Party, and the people who are around President Trump, right now they’re going to have the MAGA halo,” Matt Terrill, who previously served as chief of staff for Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, told The Hill.
“This is Trump’s party, so I think the people in the administration kind of have that MAGA halo that President Trump provides. I don’t see that changing,” Terrill added.
Rubio played a central role in brokering a peace agreement to end the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and to release the Israeli hostages who had been in captivity for roughly two years.
The secretary of State last month traveled to Israel and Qatar in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Doha. That strike, which frustrated Trump, was an animating event to press Israel on a ceasefire deal.
It was Rubio who last week entered a White House event late, dramatically passed Trump a note and whispered in his ear to inform him that an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza was close.
And it was Rubio who was among the top Trump administration officials joining the trip to Israel and Egypt on Monday to formalize the peace deal, which remains in its early stages.
“Some serve a lifetime in public office and never experience a day like today,” Rubio posted on the social platform X on Monday after departing the Middle East. “In time history will detail the full story of how today was made possible. But for now all Americans should at least know this, that today would not have happened without @potus doing some pretty extraordinary things.”
The Middle East negotiations were just one of a plethora of key issues Rubio has been tasked with in the past nine months.
Rubio’s first trip in his official capacity included stops in Panama — where Trump had been exerting pressure over control of the Panama Canal — and El Salvador, whose president has emerged as a key partner in the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
Rubio was at the first meeting between U.S. representatives and Russian officials in February as the two sides opened talks on ending the war in Ukraine, an effort that has stalled in recent weeks.
His growing portfolio and list of job titles has become a running joke in the West Wing, with Rubio simultaneously serving as secretary of State, Trump’s interim national security adviser and as the acting archivist of the United States after Trump fired the last one.
Beyond the punchlines about what job Rubio will take on next and the questions about what is happening to agencies like the National Archives, his expansive profile is evidence that Trump’s one-time rival has fully ingrained himself in the president’s inner circle.
“I think what happened here is he got to know and trust him, particularly in his first term when they were working together on policy,” Terrill said.
“When President Trump gives you more things to do, it means he has more trust and confidence in you,” he added.
The relationship between Trump and Rubio is a remarkable turnaround from 2016, when the two men were rivals in the Republican presidential primary. That primary featured, among other things, Trump branding Rubio “Little Marco,” while Rubio insulted the size of Trump’s hands.
But Rubio ingratiated himself with Trump in his first term, working on policy issues with the president and Ivanka Trump. He has gone from a President Trump rival to a favorite.
It all has made talk of his political future inevitable. Rubio will be only 57 at the time of the 2028 election.
Trump earlier this year said Vice President Vance was “most likely” the logical heir apparent to serve as the Republican nominee in 2028. But he acknowledged it was early on, and he named Rubio as an example of another figure who would be an asset on a future GOP ticket.
Vance, 41, and Rubio are personal friends. Vance has largely dodged questions about his political future, saying he was focused on his current role.
But strategists and those close to the administration view the vice president and the secretary of State as both natural potential successors to Trump and a potentially impressive ticket.
“It’s either Vance-Rubio or Rubio-Vance unless something goes really wrong in the midterms,” one source close to the White House told The Hill.