There are two prevailing views of what Rubio represents in this administration. The first is that he sold his soul to MAGA and became an enthusiastic executioner of Trump’s agenda. All spheres of influence and gimme gimme militarism. Gone is the internationalism of the pre-Trump era Republican. Anakin gave in to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. The second view is that Rubio sold his soul to MAGA but still tries to blunt the edges of Trump’s agenda and even sneaks in some of his old foreign policy agenda whilst somehow staying in Trump’s good graces — Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor court or a wily Politburo member trying to survive the purges. Going after Maduro but making it about oil an

There are two prevailing views of what Rubio represents in this administration. The first is that he sold his soul to MAGA and became an enthusiastic executioner of Trump’s agenda. All spheres of influence and gimme gimme militarism. Gone is the internationalism of the pre-Trump era Republican. Anakin gave in to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. The second view is that Rubio sold his soul to MAGA but still tries to blunt the edges of Trump’s agenda and even sneaks in some of his old foreign policy agenda whilst somehow staying in Trump’s good graces — Thomas Cromwell in the Tudor court or a wily Politburo member trying to survive the purges. Going after Maduro but making it about oil and narco-terrorism rather than democracy  and human rights is one way to do it. Praising Trump to the point of narcolepsy and quietly preempting the wholesale forfeiture of Ukrainian territory to a weakened Russia is another way.

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) Jan 14, 2026