New U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that core national interests will be at the heart of American diplomacy as President Donald Trump embarks on his second four-year term in the White House.
Rubio, the first of Trump’s Cabinet nominees to win Senate confirmation and take office, said in a mission statement that all U.S. spending and efforts on foreign affairs “must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
He said that “to advance our national interest, we will build a more innovative, nimble, and focused State Department. This will require replacing some priorities, deemphasizing some issues, and eliminating some practices.”
Rubio, 53, echoed Trump’s early promises to end masses of undocumented migrants from entering the U.S.
“The State Department will no longer undertake any activities that facilitate or encourage mass migration,” Rubio said. “Our diplomatic relations with other countries, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, will prioritize securing America’s borders, stopping illegal and destabilizing migration, and negotiating the repatriation of illegal immigrants” to their home countries.
Rubio said the State Department will end any efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring, in line with orders Trump issued on day one of his new term.
“This order will be faithfully executed and observed in both letter and spirit,” Rubio said, “We must reward performance and merit.”
He said foreign policy efforts “must return to the basics of diplomacy by eliminating our focus on political and cultural causes that are divisive at home and deeply unpopular abroad. This will allow us to conduct a pragmatic foreign policy in cooperation with other nations to advance our core national interests.”
In addition, he said the U.S. “must stop censorship and suppression of information” and “reprioritize truth.” He emphasized “the fundamental truth that America is a great and just country whose people are generous and whose leaders now prioritize Americans’ core interests, while respecting the rights and interests of other nations.”
With Trump announcing he will pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement — joining Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries that will officially not adhere to the pact to limit global warming — Rubio said the State Department “will use diplomacy to help President Trump fulfill his promise for a return to American energy dominance.”
“Amid today’s reemerging great power rivalry,” Rubio said, “I will empower our talented diplomatic corps to advance our mission to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
