Politico                                          Februaro 19, 2025

   By Nahal Toosi

   Since taking over Foggy Bottom, Rubio has constantly appeared one or two steps behind the actions of President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk — popping up to explain, justify or even double down on choices he probably would not make if he was actually running the show. He’s talking (and posting online) in a different voice, contradicting earlier policy views and appears to have little control over the implementation of Trump’s assault on the federal workforce.

   Democrats, who backed Rubio for secretary of State hoping he would be a moderating force in the administration, say they increasingly worry Rubio does not have the president’s ear and almost no sway over Musk.

   “The simple story is that Rubio is not in charge,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. “But in order to maintain the appearance that he’s in charge, he has to defend the decisions other people are making,” Who is the real secretary of State, then? “Elon Musk,” Murphy said.

   Rubio has tried to make his presence felt, whether through trips abroad or public comments. But he doesn’t sound like himself.

   “South Africa is doing very bad things,” he declared on X. That is a sentence that would not survive a Public Diplomacy 101 class, but it channels Trump’s, and likely South Africa native Musk’s, anger over that country’s land reform plans.

   Rubio’s reaction to Trump’s wild — yes, wild even for Trump — proposal that the U.S. take control of the Gaza Strip and push out its 2.2 million Palestinians? “Make Gaza Beautiful Again.”

   But it isn’t just about how Rubio is presenting his message. The former senator from Florida has also done a 180 on some of his core policy positions, even some that didn’t seem too controversial before Trump took office on Jan. 20.

   Rubio once spoke out against dictatorships from Havana to Tehran; now he’s standing by as groups that defy such regimes lose U.S. funding. Rubio long insisted that the U.S. must remain the world’s dominant power; now he’s suggesting that a multipolar world is an inescapable reality — a remarkable statement for a supposed China hawk that turned heads in academic circles. Rubio once touted the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development; now he’s backing its dismantling. Rubio once sought to strengthen ties with America’s allies; now he’s promoting Trump’s threats to invade such friends.

   Rubio’s defenders argue that he has evolved since Trump began rising in the GOP, edging closer to the MAGA point of view on the need to spend more of America’s resources inside the United States, not beyond it.

   A spokesperson for the State Department didn’t respond to my request for comment. But a senior Trump administration official close to Rubio did get on the phone, telling me that when the secretary spoke of a multipolar world, he was just telling the truth as he sees it, but that he still believes the U.S. must stay globally dominant. I granted the person anonymity so they could be frank about a sensitive topic.

   Rubio, like any well-trained politician, includes caveats in his public remarks that he can point to if accused of hypocrisy.

   Of course, it’s Trump’s job to set U.S. foreign policy, not Rubio’s — and Rubio has said from the start he’s going to implement his boss’ vision.

   Still, most politicians who join a president’s Cabinet crave the role of principal. They want to devise, craft and lead on policy in their areas. They want to exercise power, not merely follow diktats. At the very least, they want to influence the president’s policy.

   As I wrote a few weeks ago, many people in the foreign aid establishment were skeptical that Rubio would last long as secretary or have much influence on Trump. One key reason was that he was competing with so many special envoys Trump has tasked with foreign policy portfolios.

   But Musk’s role caught me — and I’m guessing Rubio — off-guard.

   The tech mogul has been startlingly aggressive in moving to shrink the federal workforce and shape some foreign policy decisions. Not only is Musk the world’s richest man (the kind who could bankroll a future presidential campaign) he also has a social media megaphone on X, raising risks to any politician who defies him. Day by day, Trump seems willing to give Musk more power.

   Maybe Rubio is waiting for Trump to ease up on the frenetic pace of foreign policy announcements. Maybe he’s hoping someone else — the courts? Congress? — will usher Musk off stage if Trump doesn’t tire of him soon.

   But Rubio appears hesitant to use the power he has — including his staff — to exert even logistical control.

   Rubio is technically USAID’s acting administrator. His name has been on a number of cables to his staff and memos to Congress that directly affect the agency, including implementing the freeze on current foreign aid.

   Yet, Rubio looks as if he’s merely a bystander as Musk and his acolytes, along with like-minded Trump appointees such as foreign assistance chief Pete Marocco, engineer key decisions. It’s Marocco and the “Muskovites” who are drafting the critical missives, deciding which staff to oust, and making line-by-line suggestions on contract and grant terminations.

   It wasn’t until after Democrats on Capitol Hill warned Rubio that the aid freeze — a key piece of which he’d released under his name — would literally kill people that he announced waivers for “life-saving” assistance. Democratic lawmakers and their aides familiar with those conversations wondered whether Rubio truly understood what he was signing off on. (And he’s had trouble implementing those waivers in part because most of USAID’s staff was put on leave.)

   Rubio has also lost credibility with his own workforce, which could make it harder for him to implement future policies.

   He has alleged, without offering evidence, that top USAID staffers were insubordinate and tried to “sneak through payments” in violation of the foreign aid freeze.

   This has rankled USAID staff who insist the allegations are ignorant and spurious, and it has upset State Department employees who now see Rubio as someone who will turn on them. The sign for the U.S. Agency for International Development is seen outside of the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

   “I had at least hoped he’d stand up for us a little bit,” one U.S. diplomat told me.

   The irony is, many current and former U.S. diplomats say they would support reforms to the unwieldy bureaucracies of USAID and State — if handled differently. But Rubio hasn’t overseen a thoughtful, targeted reform process that one might expect from a former lawmaker who spent significant time learning about how U.S. foreign policy is made.

   He could have given aid groups some time to prove they deserved funding instead of cutting the money off first. He could have carried out a full review of USAID staffing and made careful decisions about who to lay off instead of going along with a sudden mass purge. Now he may find himself spending way too much time with lawyers and depositions.

   When I asked the senior Trump administration official close to Rubio whether the secretary regrets the disruptive process underway, the official insisted that the outcome is what matters.

   “People have talked about doing these reforms for decades, and they haven’t done it. People have had processes. They’ve had committees. They’ve had legislation, blah, blah, blah,” the official said. “This period of transition is difficult. But the goal at the end of it is to have a foreign policy, a foreign assistance program that is aligned with U.S. interests and respects taxpayer dollars.”

   Rubio is a fairly gifted speaker who can charm even skeptics. Privately, too, he’s tried to reassure U.S. diplomats and foreign counterparts, urging them to be patient.

   U.S. diplomats, though, are trained to separate reality from rhetoric. They don’t see a strategy. They see a sledgehammer. “The path of destruction is wide,” another U.S. diplomat said.

   Even as USAID is upended, Rubio is preparing to allow upheaval at the State Department. A person familiar with internal discussions at State — granted anonymity because they lacked permission to talk to media — said Rubio is on board with at least a 20 percent staff cut and possibly closing a large number of embassies.

   Maybe Rubio’s head-down, go-along approach will help him hang on to the title of secretary of State for longer than many in Washington expect. As I wrote before, diminishing yourself is one way to survive under Trump.

   That said, Rubio may not have the actual power at Foggy Bottom, but he still bears responsibility for what happens there.