Rubio may quit Trump administration to prepare 2028 Republican presidential bid

Resignation watch in Washington

The Independent reports that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on 'resignation watch' and may quit the Trump administration to prepare a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in November 2028. According to the paper, senior Republican sources and senior figures in the UK government had already told it, before the midterm results, that Rubio could leave his post. After the vote, those sources reinforced that expectation. The Independent describes Rubio as both secretary of state and White House national security adviser. The account rests on unnamed insiders, and the articles carry no statement from Rubio himself.

Midterm defeat and the Iran war

The Republicans lost both the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, and Democrats seized Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas, the Independent reports. A Washington insider told the paper that Rubio needs to 'distance himself from the Iran war and pin that one on Trump'. Vice President J. D. Vance moved quickly after the results to blame the war in Iran, and the paper says Trump could place the blame for the policy and the losses on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Vance put his case in blunt terms.

“The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone.”

Rubio's rivalry and his ally's case

A close ally of Rubio told the Independent that he is currently the leading candidate for the Republican nomination and is definitely ahead of Vance. The same ally argued that Rubio cannot run for the nomination while he remains secretary of state, and that his ties to the administration would only harm his prospects. The ally concluded that it makes complete sense for him to step down and leave the administration. Italian outlets Il Fatto Quotidiano and ANSA relay the same report and add that, before the vote, Rubio had not ruled out stepping back. Il Fatto Quotidiano notes that two years remain before 2028, when Trump leaves the White House, and that the succession race has already begun.

Possible successor and the wider cabinet

Il Fatto Quotidiano reports that The Washington Sun, citing ten people familiar with internal dynamics, names Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, as a possible replacement at the State Department. The Washington Sun describes Gor as a close aide and loyalist of Trump from his time at the White House, and says he is preparing the ground for a bigger career step after the midterms. The Independent says Rubio is one of up to five members of Trump's cabinet thought to be preparing to leave. It also reports that Rubio has played a 'quieter role' on Iran, a point noticed in the UK government and among Republicans, despite his lead on US foreign policy.