The Secretary of State Marco Rubio now permanently holds the two most influential foreign policy positions in the U.S. government, after President Donald Trump officially appointed him as National Security Advisor this Tuesday, as confirmed to Fox News by sources from the State Department, the White House, and senior administration officials.
With this appointment, Rubio becomes the second official in U.S. history to simultaneously hold the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. The only precedent is Henry Kissinger, who combined both roles from September 1973 to November 1975, during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Rubio had been serving as the interim National Security Advisor since May 1, 2025, when Trump appointed him to fill the vacancy left by Mike Waltz, who was then appointed as ambassador to the UN. For more than 16 months, he held both responsibilities simultaneously without the appointment being formalized.
The White House confirmed that Trump signed a formal appointment commission, although it did not specify the exact date of the signature.
The nomination solidifies him as the central figure in U.S. foreign policy. In his new role, he will oversee the staff of the National Security Council and directly advise the president on foreign policy, intelligence, and defense during a time of heightened global tension, with ongoing negotiations regarding Ukraine, Iran, and Cuba.
Experts and former officials from the National Security Council have indicated that both positions are indeed full-time roles and that the concentration of power in a single individual is unusual, although no formal ethical irregularity has been established.
The NBC chain described Rubio's role as one of the most expansive in modern presidency and pointed out that he has more direct contact time with Trump than most cabinet members.
Rubio was confirmed as Secretary of State in January 2025, becoming the first Hispanic to lead U.S. diplomacy. He is the son of Cuban immigrants who left the Island in 1956, before Fidel Castro came to power, and his family background has shaped his hardline stance toward the regimes in Havana, Caracas, and Managua.
Last week, new sanctions were announced against entities linked to the Cuban military apparatus and the nickel sector, in another twist that increases the ongoing pressure from the Trump administration against the Cuban regime during 2026.
The magazine Bloomberg Businessweek portrayed Rubio as the most powerful man in Washington within the Trump environment and as a favorite among major Republican donors ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.
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