‘It’s not what he expected’: Rubio has competition for the role of America’s top diplomat
CNN
When Marco Rubio signed on as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, he went into the job “with eyes wide open,” according to a person familiar with his thinking. He knew it wouldn’t be easy working for Trump. He knew that Trump had a track record of firing top officials by tweet. He also knew what it was like to be called, “Little Marco.”
When Marco Rubio signed on as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, he went into the job “with eyes wide open,” according to a person familiar with his thinking. He knew it wouldn’t be easy working for Trump. He knew that Trump had a track record of firing top officials by tweet. He also knew what it was like to be called, “Little Marco.” Rubio still lobbied for the prestigious job of being America’s top diplomat after he lost out on being Trump’s vice president to JD Vance. What Rubio didn’t count on was that he might run the risk of being overshadowed as secretary of state by one of Trump’s closest friends, real estate developer and billionaire Steve Witkoff. Over the first two months of the second Trump administration, Rubio has in some ways taken a back seat on the world stage to Witkoff, whose portfolio has expanded beyond his official title of special envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff has been a leading player in some of Trump’s highest profile foreign policy wins — the release of hostages in Israel, a since-broken ceasefire in Gaza, and the return of American Marc Fogel from Russia after Witkoff traveled to Moscow to finalize negotiations for his release. He’s jetted around the Middle East and become a key mediator in talks to end the war in Ukraine. Witkoff went back to Moscow for a face-to-face with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week to try to advance the administration’s ceasefire proposal.
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President Donald Trump said the United States had taken out a “big facility” last week as part of a pressure campaign against Venezuela but did not provide further details on the reported US action.
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Pipe bomb suspect told FBI he targeted US political parties because they were ‘in charge,’ memo says
The man accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington, DC, on the eve of the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol told investigators after his arrest that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen and that he wanted to target the country’s political parties because they were “in charge,” prosecutors said Sunday.
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More than 30 million people are under winter weather alerts across the Midwest and Northeast early this week with another storm threatening to upend travelers’ plans on what is expected to be one of the busiest travel days this holiday season.
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