US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is gearing up for a potential run for president, prompting officials to brace for his resignation, The Independent reported Thursday.
Insiders say the secretary of state is preparing for the Republican nomination race in November 2028, with Vice President J. D. Vance as his chief would-be opponent. Before the midterms, in which Republicans lost both the House and the Senate, senior US party sources and senior UK government figures told The Independent that Rubio could leave the Trump administration. They reaffirmed that view once Democrats took Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas.
Up to five cabinet members, Rubio among them, are thought to be preparing to "run for the hills" after the midterm results, according to the report. A Washington insider said Rubio needs to "distance himself from the Iran war and pin that one on Trump."
The insider told The Independent: "It makes complete sense for him to step down and leave the administration. Rubio is the leading candidate at the moment to be the [Republican] nominee. He's definitely ahead of Vance. But he cannot run while he is still secretary of state, and being tied to the administration will only harm his prospects anyway."
Vance quickly blamed the Iran war, while Trump is thought likely to pin the policy and the midterm losses on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also potential scapegoats. "The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone … The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," the vice president said.
Republicans and UK officials have noted that Rubio has taken a "quieter role" on Iran despite leading US foreign policy. A senior UK government source told The Independent: "We are looking to see what he will do after the midterms. It seems unlikely that he will stick around. He would make a strong presidential candidate and we expect him to run."
Another Republican source said: "Rubio will be gone after the midterms. There will be about four or five them running for the hills. The country has completely turned against Trump. People cannot even say where Iran is on a map and do not get this war. The cost of gas has really p***** people off." The source added: "Once the Democrats control the House and Senate we are just going to see attempts at impeachment and nobody wants to stick around for that."
Rubio's rise from a safe Senate seat in Florida to America's top diplomat has brought him closer to Trump, who clashed with him notoriously a decade ago during his first White House run. Once mocked by the president as "Liddle Marco," he is now wielding foreign policy authority matched only by the late Henry Kissinger, the only other person to hold the secretary of state and national security adviser posts at once.
Yet even as he has drawn closer to Trump, Rubio has been sidelined on much of what normally falls to a secretary of state. On Middle East policy and efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine, the president has favored his envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law.
His standing leaves him in pole position to succeed Trump should he run, but a campaign would invite scrutiny of his role in controversial Latin America policies. These include airstrikes on small boats in the Caribbean alleged to carry narcotics, which critics have decried as extra-judicial executions, and a cozy, opaque White House relationship with Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, after the US-orchestrated ouster of Nicolas Maduro in January, which he has helped oversee.
In September, Rubio told reporters he had "no plans at this time" for a White House bid and was "100 percent focused" on his administration roles. He has indicated he would stand down if Vance runs.
An administration insider said Rubio has shown no signs of wanting to quit, though the official conceded that could change depending on the White House mood after the midterms.
