Trump mug shot hung just outside Oval Office, photos show

(WASHINGTON) — Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is no stranger to grilling nominees during confirmation hearings, but on Wednesday he is the one in the hot seat as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the top U.S. diplomat moves forward.

Rubio is appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he’s served since 2011 and is expected to sail through the confirmation process with bipartisan backing, potentially becoming the 72nd secretary of state as soon as Inauguration Day.

But that doesn’t mean his testimony and questioning before his colleagues in the Senate won’t produce any fireworks.

Here’s what to watch for:

New territory

Rubio’s well-documented public record, along with support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, may clear the way for lawmakers to ask the nominee more targeted questions about the foreign policy of the president he’ll serve under.

In recent weeks, Trump has made international waves by refusing to rule out using the U.S. military to fulfill his goals of acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal and saying he’ll use economic force to make Canada the 51st state.

Wednesday’s hearing is set to be the first time Rubio faces extensive questioning about Trump’s territorial ambitions — and whether he would work to make them a reality as secretary of state.

“I would imagine he’s going to be deferential to the president-elect,” said Richard Goldberg, a former official at the National Security Council and Senate foreign policy adviser. “These are his policy decisions, these are the president-elect’s statements.”

“[Rubio] will hopefully articulate what the American interest is in all of these places in a circumspect way,” Goldberg, who is also a senior advisor at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, added.

On the Panama Canal, Trump has used overblown claims about China’s involvement in its operations to justify his interest in overtaking it — falsely claiming earlier this month that the waterway, which is operated by the Panamanian government, is actually run by Beijing.

But Rubio — a son of Cuban immigrants who has paid close attention to Latin America during his political career — has expressed fact-based concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence over the Panama Canal that may resurface during the hearing.

“The Panama Canal is as an important transit route to intercept illicit activities, yet the canal is surrounded by #CCP enterprises,” he tweeted in 2022. “We must continue to make clear that Panama is an important partner & warn against CCP attempts to establish a foothold in our region.”

In early 2024, Rubio also led a bipartisan group of senators in urging the government of Panama to investigate tankers accused of smuggling Iranian through the canal.

“I think he has the experience, the depth of knowledge, and the political expertise to take any question and handle it pretty well,” Goldberg said.

Converging and contrasting views

Rubio — long known as a Russia and China hawk in the Senate — has been accused of dialing back his interventionist foreign policy approach to align with Trump’s positions and may face fresh criticism from opponents who believe he might prioritize serving as a yes man to president over serving the country.

However, on Wednesday he painted a dark picture of the future he says the U.S. is facing if Beijing goes unchecked.

“Virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not,” he said during the hearing, noting that if the U.S. doesn’t change course on China, “we are going to live in a world where much of what matters to us on a daily basis, from our security to our health, will be dependent on whether the Chinese allow us to have it or not. That’s an unacceptable outcome.”

In the early phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rubio was a staunch supporter of Kyiv’s war efforts. But over time, as Trump became a more outspoken critic of continuing American aid to Ukraine, Rubio appeared to change his position — eventually calling for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.

“I think it should be the official position of the United States that this war should be brought to an end,” he said Wednesday. “And the question becomes, what role can we play?”

He added that there is “no way Russia takes all of Ukraine” but said it is “unrealistic” to think Kyiv can fully defeat Moscow, pointing to the dearth of Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines of the fight.

There are still many foreign policy topics where there’s still plenty of distance between Rubio and Trump. While the president-elect is a near-constant critic of NATO, Rubio co-sponsored legislation with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine aimed at preventing any commander in chief from exiting the alliance.

“First, let me say that President Trump has appointed an ambassador nominee for NATO, which clearly indicates his role to engage in that,” Rubio responded. “Second is — the law is what it is. So it’s tough to say I’m not in support of a law that I helped to pass.”

But ultimately, Goldberg said, Rubio’s role in the incoming administration will be advising the president on foreign policy matters and then carrying out what Trump decides.

“That’s the job he’s signing up for,” Goldberg said. “Ultimately, this President Trump’s secretary of state — no one else’s.”

In his prepared opening statement, Rubio says, “Ultimately, under President Trump, the top priority of the United States Department of State must be and will be the United States.

“The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear. Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” he’s expected to say.

The ‘deep State’ Department?

Rubio’s confirmation may also present an opportunity to gain insight into how he intends to lead the State Department’s roughly 77,000 employees — and whether he might attempt to purge its ranks of those he or the president-elect view as political enemies, as incoming national security Adviser Mike Waltz reportedly plans to do at the National Security Council.

In an opinion piece published in The Federalist in April 2024, Rubio said there were many government employees who “do good work, day in and day out, but expressed concern about “others who act as self-appointed “protectors” of institutions against politicians they don’t like.”

“Looking ahead to another Trump administration, it’s clear why liberal elites want to protect the ‘deep state.’ They hate Donald Trump and everything he stands for,” Rubio wrote.

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(MEXICO CITY) — U.S. tariffs imposed on Mexico have been “paused for a month,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X Monday shortly after speaking to President Donald Trump. Trump confirmed the news shortly after in a social media post of his own.

Sheinbaum said Mexico has agreed to “reinforce” the Mexico-U.S. border with 10,000 National Guard troops “immediately.” She also said the U.S. had agreed to work to prevent high-powered weapons from being trafficked into Mexico.

Trump did not mention the U.S. working to prevent weapons from being trafficked into Mexico, but confirmed the 10,000 Mexican troops being deployed to the border “to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.”

The tariffs on Canada remain in place, however, Trump is expected to speak with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at 3 p.m. ET.

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, Trump’s yet-to-be-confirmed commerce secretary nominee, will negotiate with Mexican leaders in the next month to achieve a permanent deal.

Sheinbaum, who took over as Mexican president in October 2024, said Trump asked her how long she would like the tariffs on Mexico to be paused, and she responded “forever,” before Trump suggested they pause them for a month.

“He insisted on the commercial deficit that the U.S. has with Mexico. I told him it was not a deficit, that we are commercial partners, and it’s the best way to compete with China and other countries,” Sheinbaum said.

“I told him to collaborate,” Sheinbaum said. “He has agreed to the working group.”

Trump had told reporters he would speak on Monday with Sheinbaum and Trudeau prior to imposing import tariffs on their goods. The U.S. president was expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday putting in place 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on those from China, according to the White House.

Sheinbaum in a video posted to social media on Sunday said her government was calling for “reason and law” among “individuals as well as among nations.”

‘This measure of 25% tariffs has effects for both countries but it has very serious effects for the U.S. economy,” she said, “because it will raise the costs of all the products that are exported from Mexico to the U.S., it will have a 25% higher cost.”

Trudeau responded to the planned tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on 155 billion Canadian dollars, or about $107 billion, of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.

Sheinbaum, who was elected in June, offered little detail on how her government’s “Plan B” would respond to the tariffs.

She instructed her economic secretary to “implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” she said in a statement written in Spanish and translated by ABC News.

She also sought to remind the White House that the current free trade agreements between the U.S. and Mexico have been in place for about three decades. 

“The last free trade agreement was signed by President López Obrador and President Trump himself,” she said.

Trump on Sunday told reporters he was unconcerned about the potential impact of imposing tariffs on close trading partners, saying the American people would understand.

“We may have short term, some, a little pain, and people understand that, but, long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he told reporters on Sunday, as he departed Air Force One at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews.

He added, “We have deficits with almost every country, not every country, but almost. And we’re going to change it. It’s been unfair. That’s why we owe $36 trillion; we have deficits with everybody.”

Canada has been taking advantage of the U.S., Trump said, calling the relationship with the country a “one-way street.”

“They don’t allow our banks. Did you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in, if you think about it, that’s pretty amazing,” he said. “If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in.”

Trump added, “Canada has been very tough on oil, on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in. Essentially, they don’t allow a lot of things in, and we allow everything to come in. It’s been a one-way street.”

ABC News’ Matt Rivers, Max Zahn, Kelsey Walsh, Victoria Beaule and William Gretsky contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Joe Biden told his staffers, “We’re not leaving the fight,” during farewell remarks following Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Biden referenced President Donald Trump’s inauguration remarks, which offered a scathing rebuke of the Biden administration while laying out Trump’s immediate plans upon returning to office.

“We have a lot more to do. We heard the inaugural address today,” Biden said in his remarks at Joint Base Andrews before getting on a plane with former first lady Jill Biden.

“We’ve got a lot more to do,” Biden continued, before making the sign of the cross to laughs.

The former president urged his staffers to stay “engaged,” whether that’s in the public or private sector, academia or running for office themselves.

“We’re leaving office, but we’re not leaving the fight,” Biden said. “You’re smart, you’re skilled, you’re passionate and the country needs you again.”

He said his dad taught him that a measure of a person is how quickly they get back up after getting knocked down.

“That’s what we have to do right now. We’ve always done our best as Americans. We never, never, never give up, ever,” he said.

He said he hopes his staffers look back on the past four years with “the same pride I have of all you’ve done.”

“You did it upholding core values of honesty, decency, integrity,” he said. “You represent the best of who we are as Americans. And that’s not a joke. That’s real.”

Biden also expressed optimism that their term wouldn’t be undone.

“Just as I’ve said of the laws we’ve enacted, our seeds are gonna grow and bloom for decades to come,” he said.

He closed by expressing his gratitude for his staffers and their families and the chance to serve with them.

“I’ve been doing this for 50 years, you’re the best group of people,” Biden said to cheers. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president.”

He also quoted from the Seamus Heaney poem, “The Cure at Troy,” saying, “Once in a lifetime, the longed-for tidal wave of justice will rise up and hope and history rhyme.”

“You made it rhyme louder than it’s rhymed in a long time,” he said. “We’re on the cusp of real change, so let’s help hope and history rhyme.”

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