In a scene that feels equal parts political satire and constitutional stress test, Marco Rubio has become the Trump administration’s man for all seasons, and all jobs.
Rubio, 53, now holds four prominent roles simultaneously: Secretary of State, Acting Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Acting Archivist of the National Archives, and as of this week, Interim National Security Adviser.
The announcement came via a surprise post on Truth Social by former President Donald Trump, ousting NSA Michael Waltz and naming Rubio his replacement while nominating Waltz to serve as UN Ambassador.
The multi-hyphenate appointment raised eyebrows across Washington and drew laughs online.
US Vice President JD Vance, known for his sharp wit, couldn’t resist joking on X, “I think he could take on a bit more. If only there was a job opening for a devout Catholic…”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Pope, and the recent passing of Pope Francis.
Appearing on Fox News’ Hannity, Rubio gamely responded, “We thought about it, but you have to be an unmarried Catholic male. People don’t know that. You don’t have to be a priest, any unmarried Catholic male can be pope. But I got married and I’m happily married, so I guess I’ll miss out on that one.”
The rise of ‘secretary everything’
Rubio’s accumulation of power started when the Senate unanimously confirmed him as Secretary of State on Inauguration Day. But subsequent appointments have been more opaque.
In February, he was named acting USAID administrator just days before Trump loyalists Elon Musk and Pete Marocco began downsizing the aid agency. Then came his installation as acting archivist after Trump fired Colleen Shogan, reportedly in retaliation for the National Archives’ role in recovering classified documents from Mar-a-Lago.
Most recently, Rubio was tapped to replace Waltz at the National Security Council, learning of the decision, it seems, almost as suddenly as the public.
“We’ve seen him at the White House several times a week. His close working relationship with the president is clear,” said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce when informed of the news mid-briefing, as reported NYT. “This is the miracle of modern technology and social media.”
An unprecedented power grab or administrative necessity?
Rubio’s quadruple-title reign appears unprecedented in modern US political history. The closest parallel may be Henry Kissinger, who served simultaneously as Secretary of State and National Security Adviser from 1973 to 1975, a dual role that even back then drew criticism for consolidating too much foreign policy power in one person.
Critics today are sounding similar alarms. “Directing even one federal agency is a full-time job,” noted Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “Rubio’s current positions are uniquely concerning.”
Ethical conflicts loom especially large in his dual roles as top diplomat and national archivist, a watchdog of federal agency records, including those from his own departments.
Is it about trust or control?
White House insiders say Rubio’s consolidation of power stems from the deep trust Trump places in him, and his close relationship with Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff and political gatekeeper, as reported NYT. Rubio has long been viewed as a foreign policy hawk with ideological alignment on China and Iran, issues that Trump wants streamlined.
Still, questions abound: Will Rubio be paid four salaries? Can one person reasonably lead four departments? Is this a temporary fix, or a sign of more centralized power structures in Trump 2.0?
On Hannity, Rubio appeared unfazed by the workload. He pivoted quickly to policy, defending Trump’s diplomatic push in Ukraine and characterizing the mineral deal signed this week with Kyiv as a “major win” for US leverage in the conflict.
“This is not our war,” Rubio said. “Trump’s been the only leader in the world trying to talk to both sides and end the killing. But if they’re not close enough, maybe we need to focus more on China and Iran.”
The punchline that stuck
Despite the high-stakes roles and serious foreign policy implications, it was JD Vance’s papal jab that stole the show.
With a wink to his recent Vatican visit, hours before the pope’s death, Vance’s tweet quickly went viral, with commenters dubbing Rubio everything from “Pope Marco I” to “Secretary of the Universe.”
Rubio’s response, half humor, half deflection, might become the unofficial slogan of his tenure: “I’m happily married.”

Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage talks to the media after Sarah Pochin won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election at DCBL Halton Stadium, Widnes, Cheshire on May 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

The hard-right party Reform UK led by Nigel Farage won a seat in Parliament by a handful of votes and looked set to make more gains in results Friday (May 2, 2025) from local elections the party hopes will show it is a major player in British politics.

Reform’s Sarah Pochin was declared winner of the seat of Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by six votes after a recount, defeating Labour candidate Karen Shore.

Labour easily won the district in last year’s national election, but its lawmaker, Mike Amesbury, was forced to quit after he was convicted of punching a constituent in a drunken rage.

Although Reform’s victory was one of the narrowest in British history, Mr. Farage said “it’s a very, very big moment indeed” for politics.

“We are not a protest party, even though there is much to protest about,” Mr. Farage told reporters at the election count.

The local elections on Thursday (May 1, 2025) in many areas of England were a test of feeling about Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s center-left Labour government, 10 months after it was elected in a landslide. Both Labour and the main opposition Conservative Party braced for losses in the midterm poll.

The Runcorn victory gives Reform, which got about 14% of the vote in last year’s national election, five of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. National polls now suggest its support equals or surpasses that of Labour and the Conservatives, and it hopes to displace the Conservatives as the country’s main party on the right before the next national election, due by 2029.

Reform candidate Andrea Jenkyns — a former Conservative lawmaker — was declared winner of the newly created mayoralty of the Greater Lincolnshire region of east-central England. Labour retained three other mayoralties.

Reform hopes to scoop up hundreds of municipal seats in the elections that are deciding 1,600 seats on 23 local councils, six mayoralties and one seat in Parliament. Ballots in most of those contests are being counted Friday (May 2, 2025).

The centrist Liberal Democrats also hope to build on their success in winning more affluent, socially liberal voters away from the Conservatives.

A majority of the local seats being contested were held by the Conservatives, whose leader Kemi Badenoch could face revolt if the party does very badly.

Ms. Badenoch acknowledged that the results could be “very difficult” for the Tories. The party did extremely well when these areas were last contested in 2021, a time when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government enjoyed a surge in popularity due to the COVID-19 vaccine program.

Reform UK is the latest in a series of parties led by Mr. Farage, a veteran hard-right politician who was crucial in taking Britain out of the European Union through a 2016 referendum. A charismatic campaigner, he is a divisive figure who has said many migrants come to the U.K. from cultures “alien to ours.”

Reform blends Mr. Farage’s longstanding political themes — strong borders, curbing immigration — with policies reminiscent of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. During the campaign Mr. Farage said he plans “a DOGE for every county” in England, inspired by Elon Musk’s controversial spending-slashing agency.

University of Strathclyde political scientist John Curtice said the results showed that politics in Britain, long dominated by the two big parties, was fragmenting and that “Reform are now posing a big threat to both Conservative and Labour.”

“They are a major challenge,” he told the BBC.

Members of Syria’s security forces deploy in the town of Sahnaya, south of Damascus, Syria on May 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israel’s air force struck near Syria’s presidential palace early Friday (May 2, 2025) hours after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of a minority sect in southern Syria.

The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the Druze minority sect near the capital, Damascus. The clashes left dozens of people dead or wounded.

The Israeli Army said in a statement that fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of President Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus. It gave no further details.

Pro-government Syrian media outlets said the strike hit close to the People’s Palace on a hill overlooking the city.

The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria.

Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus.