How 'adult in the room' Marco Rubio became a 'ruthless' warrior for MAGA

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks, after President Donald Trump announced the Navy's "Golden Fleet", at Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 22, 2025. REUTERS/Jessica Koscielniak

When President Donald Trump nominated then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) for secretary of state, he was unanimously confirmed, 99-0, in the U.S. Senate. Democratic senators were united in their opposition to many of Trump's far-right MAGA nominees, but not a single Senate Democrat voted against Rubio.

Although Trump has surrounded himself with ultra-MAGA loyalists during his second presidency — from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — Rubio is known for being a traditional conservative. And he is often described as "the adult in the room" by Trump's critics.

In a biting post-Christmas article published on December 26, however, The New Republic's Alex Shephard argues that Rubio isn't really "the adult in the room," but rather, an aggressive promoter of some of Trump's worst policies.

Shephard notes that during his years in the U.S. Senate, the conservative Cuban-American from Florida "built a reputation as level-headed, reasonable, and compromise-minded — at least by the standards of the MAGA-era Republican Party."

"You no doubt remember the 'adults in the room' reporting meme during Trump's first term: a reference to establishment figures in the administration who, it was believed, brought much needed stability and experience to a presidency that sorely lacked both; these men would temper Trump's worst instincts," Shephard explains. "But come January, Trump 2.0 was shaping up much differently. He was sick of adults; his administration was going to be stuffed to the gills with crazies, losers, and incompetents. Rubio was an exception, however. He would be an adult in the room—perhaps the only one."

Shephard, however, stresses that Marco — who once compared Trump to a "Third World strongman" — isn't really the voice of reason he is often described as being.

"While Trump's second term has been defined by gross overreach, incompetence, and chaos, the State Department has largely gone about its business without drawing controversy," Shephard writes. "But that's the problem — Rubio's work this year should be controversial. Since assuming office, he has transformed the State Department into a ruthless and effective arm of the (Trump) Administration's larger push to quash dissent and demonize and punish immigrants, both legal and undocumented. Perhaps more surprising, given his long record as a foreign policy hawk, he has slavishly worked to remake American foreign policy to Trump's precise specifications: unraveling longstanding alliances and cozying up to dictatorial regimes while making the world a more dangerous and unstable place. Now, as the year draws to a close, he is pushing the United States toward war."

Read Alex Shephard's full article for The New Republic at this link.

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