Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) are allegedly both in the running to be former President Donald Trump’s secretary of state should the Republican presidential nominee win a second term this November.
While the GOP leader earlier hinted the North Dakota governor might serve as the secretary of energy, a new report from Axios indicates there is also momentum within the Trump camp to install Burgum as the secretary of state. Additionally, Rubio is now rumored to be a top contender for the powerful position in a hypothetical second Trump administration, according to the outlet.
Both Republicans were rumored to be vice presidential options for Trump before he picked Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate.
Burgum, a former presidential contender and rival to Trump earlier this year, has garnered praise from the president after the governor dropped his bid for the White House and endorsed Trump.
Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins earlier this month at the Republican National Convention, Burgum said, “Well, I got a call and a great conversation with the president. And he said, ‘Hey, Mr. Secretary.’”
Prior to the GOP nominating event, Donald Trump Jr. praised Burgum as a prime candidate for energy secretary on his podcast Triggered.
“A smart guy,” the former president’s son said of the Republican governor. “He’d make some money for America for a change.”
Now gears appear to be shifting from an energy-dominant role to a foreign policy job.
Recognized for his role as a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Rubio is also well-positioned to fill the position of secretary of state, boosting the competition to determine who will share Trump’s power should he win his bid for reelection.
The son of immigrants who fled Marxist Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010. Earlier this month, he gave a rousing speech in support of Trump during the Republican National Convention.
“The only way to make America wealthy and safe and strong again is to make Donald J. Trump our president again,” Rubio proclaimed.
The Florida senator has spent over a decade building a foreign policy portfolio in part on combating communist aggression from countries such as China.
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Just days ago, the Cuban American introduced legislation to forge stronger ties with India in order to counteract growing Chinese influence in the region.
Back in 2016, in a bid to become the GOP presidential nominee, Rubio claimed he had “done more on foreign policy than any of the other people running for president.”
