Politico Named Candidates For US Secretary of State
- 7.11.2024, 17:31
Trump is considering five candidates for this post.
Former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, Senator from Tennessee Bill Hagerty, Senator from Florida Marco Rubio, former US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien and Congressman from Florida Mike Waltz are considered by the future US President (who will take office on January 20) Donald Trump as the main candidates for the post of Secretary of State (head of American diplomacy), Politico writes in its review.
The publication recalls that Trump had a cold relationship with his first Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he slowly removed him from making political decisions in the US before "firing him in front of the whole world." At the same time, Tillerson's successor, Mike Pompeo, has become one of Trump's most trusted advisers and the one who will likely be able to find a job in the new administration. Currently, Politico notes, Trump is considering several candidates for the post of head of diplomacy, including:
Richard Grenell is an active supporter of MAGA (Make America Great Again - a political slogan popularized by Trump), he also served as the acting director of national intelligence. He has established himself in Trump's circle as one of the most influential advisers on foreign policy - Trump calls him "my envoy". Many experts, Politico reports, consider him the main contender for the post of Secretary of State or National Security Advisor. He currently works as a senior adviser at the Protecting America Initiative - a non-profit organization engaged in the fight against the influence of the Chinese government. After Trump's victory, he promised the onset of peace: "America and the world are saved. We have defeated the woke left. Peace is coming," Grenell wrote on his page on X;
Bill Hagerty is a senator from Tennessee – one of the Republicans who turned to the MAGA movement after Trump's victory in 2016. Hagerty served as Trump's ambassador to Japan before running for Senate in 2020. Hagerty used his position on the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee to cement his reputation as a China hawk;
Robert O'Brien is the only one of Trump's four national security advisers who has not had a high-profile falling out with the former president. From 2018 to 2019, O'Brien served as Trump's special envoy for hostage affairs. The publication notes that O'Brien will be welcome in Brussels and Kyiv – in the Republican Party, he is considered a big supporter of NATO and Ukraine;
Marco Rubio is a former Trump opponent in the presidential race with hard-line views on many foreign policy issues, especially Cuba and Iran. The Florida senator worked with Democrats on a law that would make it more difficult for the United States to leave NATO. He also tried to appear pro-Ukrainian without fully embracing Trump’s position that Kyiv should negotiate with Moscow;
Mike Waltz is a U.S. Army veteran and former Green Beret. He supports U.S. aid to Ukraine and seeks to strengthen oversight of Kyiv’s taxpayer-funded military operations. Waltz, a Florida representative, has emerged in Republican circles as a potential contender for the top national security job in a second Trump term.
“Trump’s choice for Secretary of State position will be closely watched across Europe after years of mocking the U.S.’s distancing from NATO and his desire to roll back military support for Ukraine. It will also serve as a measure of how strong Russia hawks remain in the Republican Party,” Politico’s authors note.
Axios sources, however, say that Richard Grenell is the leading candidate for secretary of state. According to them, Grenell advised Trump on foreign policy during the election campaign and will likely focus on Russian-Ukrainian diplomacy. In addition, Axios notes, Republican control of the Senate negates any difficulties Grenell might have had in getting his nomination confirmed.