Who Will Be Trump’s Secretary of State? President-elect Donald Trump has come into office declaring again that he will stop endless wars. He wishes to avoid World War Three by creating a ceasefire in Ukraine and ending the fighting in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. He wants NATO members to pay more for their defense. He aims to continue the “Maximum Pressure” program on Iran. Trump wants Taiwan to invest more in its military and China to quit stealing intellectual property.
Donald Trump Back in 2016.
Trump’s Policies Make This Job Difficult
This means he will need a competent and strong Secretary of State. The U.S. political party system has been re-aligned. Many Republicans believe they are the party of peace, and the Democrats are the party of war. This may not be completely true, but Trump was the first Republican candidate for president in 2015 to come out against the Second Gulf War and the decision to invade Iraq. He also was in favor of certain plans to leave Afghanistan.
Trump has also made inroads and diplomatic advancements with authoritarian leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Trump believes that the current wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East would have never happened on his watch. He favors peace through strength and thinks that the best military is one that doesn’t have to be used.
No Room For Mistakes in This Choice
This raises the need for a Secretary of State who has backbone and toughness, but who also has a velvet touch for diplomacy and negotiation. Trump does not want to make a mistake with his choice this time around. Rex Tillerson, his original Secretary of State during the first term, was a disaster. Mike Pompeo was better but still brittle around the edges. This time Trump is going for someone who can step in and immediately make a difference with no controversy.
Three Favorites for the Position Have Been Thrust Forward.
The first frontrunner is Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio ran for president and has shown that he can succeed in the intense scrutiny that the position requires. He has also served in important roles on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Intelligence Committee. Rubio is smart and articulate. He is tough on China, especially on its abysmal human rights record. He is a bit more hawkish than Trump and may not agree with stopping the war in Ukraine without Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces ejecting the Russians completely from his country. Rubio has been loyal to Trump and knows when to stay in the background and when it is the appropriate time to make a stand in the media. He also looks good on television – a quality that Trump loves.
The second candidate is Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty. Hagerty’s best experience has been serving as the Ambassador to Japan. He is a Make American Great Again conservative. Hagerty is a smooth operator. The senator from the Volunteer State is strong on trade and international economics. He was an economic aide to President George W. Bush and worked on financial policy in Tennessee and has experience in private equity. Hagerty has used his position of ambassador to learn East Asia well. He is mindful of the defense situation in the Indo-Pacific and would be a stalwart China hawk. But Hagerty may instead be chosen for Secretary of the Treasury or Commerce instead of Secretary of State.
The third choice is Robert C. O’Brien. Of the three, O’Brien has worked the most closely with Trump. O’Brien was a hostage negotiator before becoming National Security Advisor. He was Trump’s favorite NSA and served the position well. O’Brien is confident and smart and made the NSA position look easy. O’Brien has the stamina for all the travel that is required for Secretary of State and having served in the White House, he is experienced with the global threat environment.
All three are very qualified. Trump is not sure that Rubio has the hard edge and toughness that can fulfill the America First foreign policy agenda. Rubio could be seen as a “globalist” which is the ultimate insult from the MAGA faithful. Hagerty is not well known and while the ambassador experience is helpful, he has not worked directly with Trump.
My Choice Is Robert C. O’Brien
That leaves Robert C. O’Brien, and he is my choice for Secretary of State. The National Security Advisor position is great training for a Secretary of State. Henry Kissinger and Colin Powell were both NSAs before leading the State Department. O’Brien has Trump’s total confidence and has the White House experience with a West Wing perch right by the Oval Office. He looks great on television and is even more articulate than Rubio and Hagerty.
But Trump could still go with a senator and Rubio and Hagerty have a good shot at getting the role since they would likely be confirmed by the full senate with ease. O’Brien would perhaps get more scrutiny in the confirmation process, and he could make mistakes in hearings.
So, the jury is still out, but O’Brien should be seen as the favorite.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
Jacksonian Libertarian
November 8, 2024 at 6:37 pm
Trump’s decisions are not based on what is best for the establishment.
Who would have predicted that he would choose JD Vance as his VP? And yet, it was a brilliant pick that will cement blue-collar workers’ loyalty to the Republican Party for years.
Trump will learn from his disastrous cabinet choices in his first term and will likely pick many from the private sector with no deep state connections.
pagar
November 8, 2024 at 7:39 pm
Rubio and hagerty aren’t the best choices, trump needs to look beyond the trees.
Ya don’t want a carbon copy of pompeo who was like a pure-bred political spanish bullfighter.
Bullfights ain’t the top trending drill Today.
Trump needs someone who won’t quarrel with him in the meeting room but still know How to wriggle out of tight situations by hammering the domestic media practitioners instead of demonizing foreign leaders.
Lastly, trump needs to curtail size of all foreign diplomatic staff in the USA.
Zhduny
November 9, 2024 at 4:35 am
Trump in his second term will be a better president than in the earlier 2017-2020 period.
So, his secretary of state must be real smart, always be on-the-go-smart, totally intelligent enough never to badmouth his boss and constantly ready to fight the real true enemy that manifests itself in the form of various TV talking heads and news editors.
Those are the REAL ENEMY.
The media sided with Joe biden because joe is a true blue cold war warrior whose mind is horribly terribly mired in the 20th century. Years like the seventies and eighties.
The world has changed and today you don’t want to secretly plan for ww3 with ww1-style geopolitical tactics. This so greatly favored by democrats and Joe biden. Dumb totally dumb as in dumb & dumber.
So, the new secretary of state must keep that in mind.
Otherwise ya goose’s cooked !
One-World-Order
November 9, 2024 at 5:38 am
Richard grenell potentially could be ideal for the job but will he ever pass the green light of congress.
Grenell is less of a matador but more of an art salesman and that is What the president needs.
He needs to know which scrww or vise to turn to plow on the pressure and which tinderbox to avoid.
Also always avoid becoming a snakeoil salesman like blinken who everyone knows is totally sneaky and very untrusworthy.
Biden and blinken and austin truly fully responsible for the chaos & mayhem now churning all over the globe due to their endless prevarications 24/7 over even the simplest issues like UN recommended humanitarian pauses.
404NotFound
November 9, 2024 at 7:34 am
Joe biden (along with carter) is the worst US president since Lyndon baines Johnson or LBJ of nam era.
Biden’s right hand man at the state dept blinken is no better than LBJ’s dean rusk who made many huge dumb mistakes during his time that directly led to several horrible results around the world during the height of the cold war period.
Today, blinken is responsible for the unmentionable daily continuing genocides in the mid-east and also in eastern Ukraine and occasionally stupidly threatening ww3 outright for north-east asia.
Joe biden is the worst in recent times no doubt his state secretary is totally useless.
The defeat of Harris by trump is the result of a dumb state dept and equally dumb senile president.
What did biden famously say in an interview with TV host ‘stephanopoulos’ ?
“I manage the world.” Shit.
That statement says my state dept secretary’s an ass.
RequestBeingVerified
November 9, 2024 at 1:28 pm
Donald trump and his yet unrevealed state dept secretary cannot avoid the Ukraine problem.
That problem was the direct result or aftermath of joe biden’s disastrous foreign affairs policy even though many people, including joe himself, consider biden as a for expert or sensei.
Bullshit, the only real ‘expertise’ exhibited by biden was his stated intention to wage total war on any invader barging his way into USA from the north via Canada (1982).
Now, there is talk in Europe that Russia should withdraw from eastern Ukraine and allow the ‘finlandization’ of Ukraine.
Again, pure bull. Total bull’s pure big bullshit.
Ukraine must be divided into two. No finlandization, please. One half be allowed to adopt nazist way of political life while the other half to be forever faithful to its Russian roots.
Both halves not participating in any kind of finlandization but subscribing fully to the NPT. UKRAINE PROBLEM SOLVED.
BUT CAN TRUMP DO IT. CAN HE ?
One-World-Order
November 10, 2024 at 12:01 am
Donald trump has demonstrated he holds a different position on ukraine compared to US democrats who want ukro victory with unlimited aid from NATO nations for as long as it takes.
Putin MUST remind himself of the forever constant and rapid changing of western positions, as shown in syria.
In syria, after turkish-backed islamists went on offensive, hussein obama initially promised no boots in syria despite the already presence of CIA operatives in syria.
Soon only a bit little later, regular US army personnel began to appear near al-tanf in southern syria very quickly followed by more numerous boots in eastern syria.
That Shows just how quickly US changes colors depending on the temperature of the hour.
Thus trump could also do the same. Depends on temperature.
So, What MUST putin do, now.
Putin MUST flatten all ukro airfields, airbases and airports. Immediately. To lower the temperature.
One that’s lowered, zelenskyy has no choice but to obey donald trump and stop fighting.
Otherwise, otherwise, otherwise….all-out ww3 beckons on the european battlefield in 2025. Ww3.
pagar
November 10, 2024 at 6:36 am
There’re reports but unverified trump wants to implement an 800-mile buffer zone in Ukraine, with German, British, french & polish soldiers to enforce it.
That’s like asking ma barker gang members to guard the high street bank.
Now is the time for Russia to set the right terms for peace.
No fascist military forces to enforce buffer zone but neutral observers only. Only soldiers from neutral nations.
Is Vladimir Putin still fast asleep. If he is, time to kick him in the butt.
404NotFound
November 10, 2024 at 9:59 pm
The weekend drone attacks on moscow shows putin is near completely useless and it’s time to shove him aside.
At least 34 ukro drones arrived over moscow causing airport shutdown.
Another 50 drones hit nearby areas on sunday nov 10 2024. Shows putin is useless.
Time to put him to pasture.
Commentar
November 11, 2024 at 1:28 pm
Always know US-NATO’s today’s Genghis.
Rob Bauer (outgoing NATO mil committee boss) said loudly Nov 10 2024 that Moscow’s not afghan Taliban. Moscow has nukes.
That alone prevented NATO from banging Russians outright in eastern Ukraine.Prevented ww3.
Now, finish off the neo-nazis.
Zhduny
November 11, 2024 at 3:58 pm
Freakishly over-dressed putin must be shunted aside, let medvedev take over.
Why.
Russia must ABSOLUTELY have possession of kharkiv in any future peace deal by trump. Otherwise, no deal. Zilch.
Therefore, now, Russia must flatten kharkiv using glide bombs & norkie-supplied ballistic rockets,quickly and NOW !
Immediately. No delay.
Kharkiv or bust !!! !!!
Kharkiv or ww3 in 2025.
The-Waiting-Ones
November 12, 2024 at 2:43 am
DJT choosing Mike waltz as next US national security adviser. Waltz thinks USA should return to afghanistan.
That’s big indication trump administration could emerged really or wholly cross-eyed on foreign policy.
Foreign nations have to be wary.Cross-eyed nations are highly unpredictable.
So, peace in Ukraine ? More likely ww3 in Europe by mid-2025…. BE FULLY PREPARED !!!
megiddo
November 12, 2024 at 4:20 am
The rise or more correctly, the return of the Donald, is a fitting legacy to Joe biden’s totally chaotic & stupidly dumb administration.
I predict even more chaos in 2025, as the shadow agency, or shadow government, attempts to upend trump’s administration.
Commentar
November 12, 2024 at 5:29 am
After jan 20 2025, as trump’s major return to the oval office fully but slowly blooms, will political maturity begin coalescing, or will people know as ‘diehard neocons’ begin strategizing their playbook and twirl the chief executive around their little littla littl’ finger.
Commentar
November 12, 2024 at 10:46 am
Trump failed big time during his first year in office, due to immature policies and knee-jerk reactions and feelings.
Hope second time around capable of drawing up a different Picture.
Most importantly, down with all globalists including the media but spare the ordinary masses who usually never do a single wrong.
Be able to different the wheat from the chaff.
RequestBeingVerified
November 12, 2024 at 9:57 pm
In USA, freedom of expression or freedom of opinion is gone, gone with the wind !
Why. Main reason is USA today already tightly gripped by the spirit of Asmodeus.
With asmodeus in full control of its soul, USA is now top media censor of the globe, rivalling north Korea and countries prioritizing the killing of antisemitism.
Will trump improve on the situation.
Trump will replicate work of democrats in efforts to suppress all those with differing opinions.
USA, what a laugh.