Former U.S. senator from Florida Marco Rubio jumps into new role as secretary of state with flurry of phone calls, planned trip to Panama.

It was in 2020 when Beijing sanctioned the then Florida senator twice for promoting a bill that banned Chinese officials from entering the United States and for supporting the democratic movements in Hong Kong.

House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday pushed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to preserve a refugee program. “We urge you to immediately revoke the stop work orders that the Department issued on

Tensions between the U.S. and China have been rising for some time now, and Rubio's appointment has widely been seen as a sign that Trump plans to maintain a hard line on China during his second term. One of the most outspoken China hawks in Washington, Rubio has introduced several bills targeting the Chinese Communist Party.

The new secretary of state took center stage in a diplomatic rift with Colombia over deportation flights, adding teeth to Trump's threats of sanctions.

Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as secretary of State. The visit comes as Donald Trump looks to reclaim Panama's canal.

The Senate confirmed Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, on Monday as America’s 72nd secretary of state, putting a former political rival of President Trump at the helm of American diplomacy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is advising his department to cease refugee resettlement operations and begin ramping up vetting of visas from certain regions.

State Department staff were instructed to “suspend any application requesting an X sex marker” and to “suspend any application where the applicant is seeking to change their sex marker.”

China's top diplomat held his first phone conversation with the new US secretary of state on Friday, days after Donald Trump's return to the White House brought more uncertainty to relations. Since then,

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order to pause nearly all foreign aid has halted funding to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an African HIV-prevention program launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 that has saved over 25 million lives.