On Thursday, new bombshell reporting revealed that one of President Donald Trump's top Cabinet officials may be preparing to resign. According to GOP insiders who spoke with the Independent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears to be leaving the administration in order to protect himself from midterm blowback as he ramps up a 2028 presidential run.
As the Independent explains, "Even before the disastrous midterm results — when the Republicans lost both the House and the Senate — senior party sources in the US and senior figures in the UK government told the Independent that Mr Rubio could quit his senior role in President Donald Trump’s administration. The sources doubled down on the expectation after the midterms gave a damning indictment of the Trump presidency, with the Democrats seizing Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas. Mr Rubio is one of up to five members of Mr Trump’s current Cabinet who are thought to be preparing to 'run for the hills' in the aftermath of the midterms humiliation. One Washington insider told the Independent that Mr Rubio needs to 'distance himself from the Iran war and pin that one on Trump.'" Sources say that Trump may also lay the blame on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — whose impeachment is being called for even by members of his own party — with Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles also targeted as potential scapegoats.
As one insider, an ally of Rubio, elaborated, "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 [Vice President JD] Vance. But he cannot run while he is still secretary of state and being tied to the administration will only harm his prospects anyway.” Immediately after the GOP's midterm massacre, Vance was quick to blame the war in Iran in a clear effort to distance himself from it. “The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone … The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," wrote Vance in his scathing remarks. "Any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.” Meanwhile, many have noted that Rubio has played a "quieter" role in the war, with others helming negotiations despite the fact that his position makes him the country's top diplomat.
One 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 asserted, “Rubio will be gone after the midterms. There will be about four or five them running for the hills." As this source noted, “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.” They 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.”
