The president-elect of USAthe Republican Donald Trumpannounced this Wednesday the nomination of Congressman Matt Gaetz, from the most ultra-right wing of the party, such as next attorney general; and the Cuban-born Florida senator Marco Rubio as the country’s new Secretary of State.
“It is a great honor for me to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida is nominated to be the Attorney General of the United States. Matt is a tenacious and profoundly talented advocate“, Trump said in a statement. The next president has indicated that “few issues” in the US are more important than “putting an end to the instrumentalization” of the judicial system that, according to him, has been carried out by the Administration of Joe Biden.
“Gaetz will dismantle criminal organizations and restore citizens’ faith and trust in the severely shattered Department of Justice.” The appointment of the Justice Department head is one of the most important for Trump. The Republican plans to order, when he takes office, the closure of the investigations that the prosecution opened against him for the assault on the Capitol and for having taken classified documents from the White House.
Trump is favorable in addition to instructing the attorney general to defend his policies in court and even to open judicial investigations against his political rivals. After a strained relationship with first-term prosecutors Jeff Sessions and William Barr, he was expected to pick a very loyal person for the job who would never turn his back on him.
Gaetz, 41, has been a member of the House of Representatives from Florida since January 2017. In Congress, he has been characterized as one of the legislators of the most far-right wing of the Republican Party and fully aligned with Trump’s wishes. In fact, he led the internal revolt that toppled then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October 2023 because McCarthy had struck legislative deals with Democrats.
Rubio to be next Secretary of State
The president-elect has also confirmed the news that had been circulating for several days: the election of Rubio as the top representative of U.S. diplomacy, making him the first Latino to assume the post. “Marco is a highly respected leader and a powerful voice for freedom. He will be a steadfast defender of our nation, a true friend to our allies and a courageous warrior who will never surrender to our adversaries,” Trump said.
Rubio, the text adds, “will not stop until U.S. policy is back to focus on common sense and the common good.“. Through social networks, Rubio affirmed that leading the US State Department “is an enormous responsibility” and that he feels “honored by the trust” that Trump has placed in him.
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to advance his foreign policy agenda. Under President Trump’s leadership we will achieve peace through strength and we will always put the interests of Americans and the United States above all else,” he said.
Born in Miami in 1971, Marco Rubio is considered a foreign policy ‘hawk’, a supporter of the He is in favor of an iron fist with China and Iran, and of sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. He gained national popularity when he participated in the primaries for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, in which he faced Trump, among others. After withdrawing from that race, he expressed his loyalty to the tycoon and, from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had influence in the policy towards Latin America of the first Trump Administration.
Marco Rubio’s is the third secretary announced by Trump for his cabinet, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Among other appointments, the Republican has also placed Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, John Ratcliffe as CIA director, Sliese Stefanik as ambassador to the UN and Tom Homan as border ‘czar’.