Many Never Trumpers describe Marco Rubio as a “once honorable man.” That may be. For my own part I liked Rubio well enough back in the day when he was describing Trump’s dishonesty and unpleasantness accurately when they were opposing one another in the primaries, while disliking him for the unbelievable tone deafness of fundraising during a Florida hurricane. And of course Rubio has since come to bend the knee to Trump like everybody else in the rotted husk that was once the Republican party.
Rubio is occupying an intriguing niche in Trump 2.0. He’s the Functioning Adult in the room and a GOPer of some solid political background in a cast that otherwise is dominated by Fox News talent and a fourth string (if that) of political benchers. Rubio is what’s left of the *legitimate* GOP and on that basis he may end up becoming its 2028 candidate — presupposing that Trump doesn’t muddy that event like he’s doing now selling Trump 2028 merchandise in the hopes that a constitutional amendment will fall from the sky on cue, a deus ex mechina, allowing him to stay in power.
It was predicted here and on many other outlets, in no uncertain terms, that Mike Waltz was a goner. Now on May 1 we get confirmation that Waltz is indeed a goner. Using the Peter Principle, Waltz has managed to fail up yet once again and he will soon occupy the position of U.N. Ambassador — a development which must have Elise Stefanik grinding her teeth and ripping her hair out. And in truth, Stefanik arguably would have done a credible, if not great, job as ambassador whereas Waltz is being shoved into the post simply because Trump does not want to fire him outright. This is about King Donald saving face, not the post of ambassador being adequately staffed.
So that leaves us with a template now, which we should explore. Simply, Trump does not want to fire anybody in his administration because his first administration was characterized by massive firings and unprecedented upheaval. So this time out, the playbook is going to be musical chairs as opposed to firings.
Rubio is and will continue to be a central figure in Trump world messes, way beyond simply being the Secretary of State. Rubio ended up with the remains of USAID going to the State Department, and don’t be surprised if USAID rises phoenix-like from its own ashes. It was never a good move to dissolve that agency. Rubio may decide to resurrect it. Certainly that would save America a lot of face and serve to restore some kind of confidence that we still stand for the same core values that we stood for before Elon Musk came along with his chain saw to massacre the government as it presently exists.
Rubio now is running the State Department and is the Acting National Security Advisor. He’s going to have to delegate authority in both jobs, or pass down the NSA job to somebody. I believe he will do the latter. Rubio will, in theory at least, make a rational appointment to the post because Trump can’t do so. Trump’s hiring is the worst and that has not changed in Trump 2.0.
Which takes us to the elephant in the room, the upcoming replacement of Pete Hegseth. According to the template which Trump has cobbled together today, Hegseth will not be fired, he’ll be reassigned. To what, we don’t know. Maybe he’ll end up in charge of a resurrected USAID, since that is one post that may come back into existence. And the irony of the tatooed protagonist of warrior culture being in charge of administrating peanut paste and vaccines to dying children is a drole one. Maybe the man would learn a little humility, although I doubt it.
I would say that Hegseth could be appointed the permanent U.S. prosecutor in New Jersey, a post which Alina Habba is temporarily filling, but Hegseth is not a lawyer and the job requires more than just playing one on television. Otherwise, I would be ready to lay odds that New Jersey is where Hegseth was destined.
One thing we know for certain: it’s impossible to logically predict where Hegseth will be reassigned because logic plays no part in any of this. If you had said that you saw a vision in your crystal ball that a Florida congressman would be appointed National Security Advisor and then hold the post for a few months and be re-appointed U.N. Ambassador after compromising national security by inviting a reporter onto a classified chat thread, people would contemplate putting you in five-point restraint and injecting you with thorazine. Yet that is exactly what happened.
And I believe a version of the same thing will happen to Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has maybe another month left, tops. Hegseth is far and away the cabinet member with the most issues in his department. The men and women under him have zero confidence in him and he can scream profanely about polygraph tests stopping leaks being the answer but no, the answer is getting rid of Hegseth and getting somebody qualified to run that huge and complex department.
The only question is where to shove Hegseth and who to put in charge of his post as Acting Secretary of Defense as a temporary stop gap. Maybe Rubio will get that gig, too, and pass it down to somebody after he’s done making the national security advisor transition. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Or, Rubio could be structuring Hegseth’s exit as we speak. In fact, I would be surprised if he wasn’t.
Trump has learned absolutely nothing. His first time out the post of National Security Advisor went south with Mike Flynn being canned right out of the gate. Now we see the exact same thing happen, only it’s treated as a fumbled ball, and the player is reassigned a position as opposed to being put out of the game.
In Trump’s first administration he had James Mattis, Patrick Shanahan (acting) Mark Esper, and then Chris Miller, (also acting) as secretaries of defense. Maybe Rubio can change the track record from four to two.
Rubio is clearly Trump’s bagman this time out. Just watch and see if it isn’t the case that all roads lead to Liddle Marco and then he rearranges the Trump chessboard accordingly.
Maybe Pete can be appointed to Ambassador to Yemen.
Off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone other than Rubio that Trump could put in charge of DOD even for a short time (enough to as you say save face) and he’s got a full plate already. Of course back in his first go-round Trumpty put Jared in charge of everything or so it seemed. If Jarvanka was part of Trump 2.0 that’s what would happen. As with the middle east Jared would read books and become the world’s leading authority. Of all time. Then announce some landmark makeover and as with the Abraham Accords it would all turn to shit. And turning things to shit is what Trump does better than anybody.
Like you I can only imagine what Stefanik is thinking tonight! I came to believe that like Nikki Haley she saw the U.N. gig as a way to burnish foreign policy credentials. Quietly put in a couple of years tucked away in NYC at the U.N. then resign. THEN run for the 2028 nomination. Maybe Susie Wiles figured out the same thing and whispered it in Trumpty’s ear. Who knows? What should be a pretty safe re-election for her might not be if Democrats can field a great candidate. Stefanik is wounded and it seems like the cuts will keep coming – from her own side!
Still we are faced with a problem and a critical one. DOD is rudderless and Hegseth is lucky there aren’t any old Vietnam grunts around. “Fragging” an officer who was incompetent and a danger to the platoon sometimes happened and some of those who pulled that crap back in Nam are probably whispering stories about it these days to the folks now serving. Let’s just hope nothing bad happens to Hegseth and he just goes away. And crimes he’s committed and will commit as SecDef will still be within the statute of limitations for an AG if we can retake the WH in 2028. I’m fine and dandy with bad being Petey BOY wearing an orange jumpsuit in a federal prison!
Fragging an incompetent/dangerous green second louie fresh out of OCS with visions of becoming the next great Cong destroyer by sacrificing most of his platoon surely happened back in ‘Nam (While my overseas duty was in Korea 1966-67, once back stateside I was in a company made up largely of ‘Nam vets who sometimes talked about it). What became clear is the fragging usually took place during a firefight, under conditions making it impossible to determine if “friendly” fire caused the death, making it easy to send deceased back home a martyr, with a medal.
It’s a safe bet Secdef Courageous won’t be leading any troops in action with live ammo…..
“And in truth, Stefanik arguably would have done a credible, if not great, job as ambassador whereas Waltz is being shoved into the post simply because Trump does not want to fire him outright. This is about King Donald saving face, not the post of ambassador being adequately staffed.”
Oh, there’s more to it than that. With Waltz as the ambassador to the UN, Drumpf can fire him without worrying about how it’ll reflect on Drumpf. With GOP “Presidents,” the post of UN ambassador is one of the least memorable and least desirable positions one could possibly attain. (Even under Democratic Presidents, the post is largely meaningless but GOP “Presidents” have typically disdained the UN completely so the job is absolutely nothing more than reiterating whatever nonsense the “President” wants to put out there.) I’d be willing to bet that Waltz gets 6 months (if that) in the job before Drumpf gives him the old “You’re fired” treatment. Sure, Drumpf will make up some nonsense as to why Waltz failed at the UN but the real reason will be SIGNALgate.