US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected reports that he was preparing to leave the Trump administration, as President Donald Trump dismissed questions about whether Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth could be fired after Republicans suffered losses in the midterm elections.
Mr Rubio told The New York Times yesterday that leaving the administration had not been part of his plans as he considers his next steps following the midterms.
“It has always been my plan” to serve under US President Donald Trump until the end of his term, Mr Rubio said in an interview with the newspaper.
Mr Rubio, who also serves as Mr Trump’s national security adviser, is widely viewed as a possible successor to Mr Trump in the 2028 presidential race.
But when asked yesterday about his political ambitions, Mr Rubio declined to discuss the 2028 contest, saying: “I literally will not talk about 2028 anymore.”
Responding to reports that he was considering leaving the administration, he told The New York Times: “I don’t know where these things come from, to be honest with you.”
Earlier yesterday, Bloomberg News reported that Mr Rubio was weighing whether to step down.
The report said he had discussed the possibility of leaving with White House officials, who asked him to remain in his post.
The State Department, however, strongly rejected claims that Mr Rubio might depart.
Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for global public affairs, described the Bloomberg report as “totally made up”.
He also dismissed a report by news outlet The Independent claiming that Mr Rubio planned to seek the 2028 Republican presidential nomination as “completely baseless fake news”.
Mr Rubio has previously said he would back Vice President JD Vance if Mr Vance decided to run for president.
Mr Vance is also widely regarded as a potential candidate in 2028.
Hegseth vows to fight impeachment efforts
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to resist congressional efforts to impeach him, defending the Iran war as “courageous and historic” after voters punished Republicans over the conflict in this week’s midterm elections.
Mr Hegseth delivered the message in a video posted on social media yesterday, as congressional opponents stepped up their attacks and Mr Trump brushed aside questions about whether he might dismiss him. Mr Trump has repeatedly praised his Pentagon chief.
Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, asked in a post: “Why is Pete Hegseth still around?”
A former Fox News host, Mr Hegseth has become a deeply polarising figure and has alienated some members of his own Republican Party.
Congressional critics are focusing on his conduct of the Iran war, which Mr Vance has said cost Republicans control of Congress; his dismissal of senior military officers; and deteriorating relations with lawmakers as the administration pursues a $1.5trn defence spending package.
Democrats, who won control of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, have pledged to investigate Mr Hegseth and his leadership of the Pentagon. Congressional aides say the inquiry would cover the firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among other matters.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie said he would reintroduce articles of impeachment against Mr Hegseth next week. He warned that impeachment would be “much gentler” than what awaits the defence secretary once Republicans surrender control of Congress to Democrats next year.
“They’ll have hearings & trials,” Mr Massie wrote on X.
In a video lasting more than four minutes, Mr Hegseth defended his record at the Pentagon, highlighting his dismissal of senior department leaders, the termination of diversity initiatives and the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
“You see, they attack me – they attack us – because we are effective. It’s not going to work. We will not back down,” Mr Hegseth said while addressing the camera.
He labelled the impeachment drive a “sham” and pointed to the fact that Mr Trump himself had been impeached twice.
“It’s all about the politics of personal destruction. It didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me. You can rest assured of that,” he said.
Asked yesterday whether he expected changes among senior officials, Mr Trump praised Mr Hegseth, saying the defence secretary had “done a fantastic job” and suggesting that opposition to him stemmed from his decision to fire generals.
“We had so many generals. Everybody was a four-star general. I never saw anything like it. And many of those people were woke. I don’t like a woke general. And so, he probably has opposition,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Mr Trump also praised Mr Hegseth’s role in US military operations in Venezuela and Iran. “Venezuela has been unbelievable … and in Iran, we are there for seven months and we control everything that we’ve wanted to control,” he said.
Sources have said Mr Trump could nevertheless replace Mr Hegseth as Republicans examine the reasons for their election losses.
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance openly questioned whether the Iran war had been worth pursuing, saying it cost Republicans control of Congress. His extraordinary remarks raised fresh questions about whether Mr Trump would proceed with a threatened resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
One Trump adviser said Mr Hegseth “could be on the chopping block” because of the Iran war.
The Defence Department has said Mr Hegseth is “100% committed” to running the Pentagon through the end of Mr Trump’s term.
