Will Marco Rubio kibosh the Chagos deal?

There’s a new sheriff in town. Trump’s election means a new Secretary of State; the world’s most powerful foreign minister is now a Republican. Out goes Anthony Blinken, Joe Biden’s longtime Francophone aide. In comes Marco Rubio, the three-time Florida Senator. Unlike some of Trump’s cabinet picks – like the unorthodox Pete Hegseth at Defence – Rubio sailed through his Senate confirmation, winning the unanimous approval of his former colleagues. This is partly because the ideological switch from Blinken to Rubio is less dramatic than in other cabinet posts.

Both men are staunch supporters of Nato; both received a big thumbs up from national security establishments across the West. Europe is important to the worldview of both men. Blinken was a staunch supporter of Ukraine from the beginning of the war to his last day in office. Rubio, a traditional Atlanticist, has had to adapt his views to the changing mood of the Republican party, but still favours ‘a strong, engaged US posture in the world,’ according