Donald Trump expected to name Marco Rubio his secretary of state ...
US president-elect Donald Trump is expected to continue his hardline White House appointments and name Florida senator Marco Rubio — whom he has previously called "lightweight" — as secretary of state.
Rubio ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, in a campaign that saw him trade barbs with the billionaire on several occasions.
Trump made fun of Rubio's make-up, saying it appeared he had put it on with a trowel, and accused him of being a "nervous basket case" and sweating too much.
In social media posts, he also referred to Rubio as a "lightweight" and "Mr Meltdown".
Meanwhile, Rubio accused Trump of "having a meltdown" backstage at one of the debates, and questioned whether his rival had requested a full-length mirror "to make sure his pants weren't wet".
At the time, he told CNN Trump was "the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency".
Despite those insults, Rubio has become more closely aligned with Trump in subsequent years, and he is now firmly in the president-elect's fold.
While not yet announced — and Trump has a history of changing his mind — Rubio's looming appointment was being openly discussed in US political circles.
Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, a regular Trump detractor, told CNN Rubio was "somebody that understands foreign policy. And that's going to be important".
Rubio's appointment would come amid a deteriorating global security landscape.
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine continue to rage, although Trump has insisted he will end both.
That will be easier said than done.
Israel and Iran have exchanged direct fire several times in the past year in a development that has put the region on edge.
Earlier this month, Qatar withdrew as the regional intermediary in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, citing a reluctance from the parties to compromise.
Rubio is an ardent supporter of Israel, and has laid the blame for the war in Gaza on Hamas.
Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday, local time, announced former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee would be the new US ambassador to Israel.
It's anticipated Huckabee, who's consistently defended Israel, will build even closer ties between the state and the US.
Donald Trump and Marco Rubio campaign in North Carolina earlier this month. (Reuters: Jonathan Drake)
Meanwhile, although Russia and Ukraine do not release their official death tolls, they are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands on both sides.
If anything, that war is expanding. An emboldened North Korea in October sent troops to join Vladimir Putin's invasion. It also ramped up its own missile testing program, to the dismay of Seoul, a key US ally.
During Trump's previous stint in the White House, Rubio co-sponsored a bill that would make it harder for the US to withdraw from NATO — something the then-president threatened on multiple occasions.
In September, Rubio told NBC he was a supporter of Ukraine, but wanted the war there to end.
The US is Ukraine's largest backer in terms of single nations, providing direct military assistance as well as humanitarian aid.
"I think the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave and strong in standing up to Russia. But at the end of the day, what we are funding here is a stalemate war, and it needs to be brought to a conclusion, or that country is going to be set back 100 years," Rubio said.
Rubio has previously served as a co-chair of a bipartisan congressional committee that drew up strict policy stances on China.
Rubio's appointment would continue a series of hardline West Wing picks, that have already seen Tom Homan will oversee his strict immigration blueprint, a so-called "border Czar".
