Rubio Plans to Flee the Sinking Trump Ship Before the Iran War Sticks to Him

Run for the Hills, Now With Cabinet Positions

Let's start with the numbers, because they are brutal. The midterms handed Democrats both chambers of Congress and flipped Republican strongholds including Kansas and Texas. Insiders tell The Independent that Rubio is one of up to five Trump cabinet members preparing to bolt in the aftermath.

One Republican source put it with the elegance only an anonymous operative can: "There will be about four or five of them running for the hills." That is not a metaphor about leaving a job. That is a description of people sprinting from a building they believe is about to collapse.

The same source offered a reason that should be printed on a bumper sticker: once Democrats control Congress, "we are just going to see attempts at impeachment, and nobody wants to stick around for that." Nothing says loyalty like checking the exits before the hearings start.

The Plan: Dump the Iran War in Trump's Lap

Here is the part that should make you spit out your coffee. A Washington insider says Rubio needs to "distance himself from the Iran war and pin that one on Trump." Read that again. The strategy is not to defend the war, or fix it, or end it. The strategy is to leave and let the boss eat it.

The Rubio ally was refreshingly blunt about the math. Rubio is the leading Republican candidate for 2028, they say, and ahead of JD Vance. But he cannot run while still serving as secretary of state, and staying tied to this administration "will only harm his prospects anyway."

And the war is, by every account in the reporting, the anchor around everyone's neck. One Republican source said voters "cannot even say where Iran is on a map and do not get this war." Then came the line that probably explains the whole election: "The cost of gas has really p***** people off." Forget grand strategy. Americans are mad about the pump.

Vance Already Threw the First Punch

If you think Rubio is the only one doing the blame shuffle, meet the vice president. JD Vance came out almost immediately after the results and torched the war to put distance between himself and it.

"The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone," Vance said. "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night." He added that any honest conversation about where the party goes next "must start there."

So the sitting vice president is publicly blaming his own administration's signature military adventure, hours after an electoral blowout. This is the same man who is supposed to be the loyal heir. Meanwhile, the reporting says Trump could pin the policy and the losses on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with Rubio and chief of staff Susie Wiles also lined up as potential scapegoats. Everybody is holding a knife and everybody is staring at everyone else's back.

The Most Powerful Man Who Wasn't in the Room

The irony is thick enough to spread on toast. Rubio holds both secretary of state and national security adviser, a combo that only Henry Kissinger ever pulled off. He has also been acting archivist of the United States and acting head of USAID. The man collects titles like a kid collects Pokémon cards.

But on the biggest foreign policy files, he has reportedly been shoved aside. On the Middle East and on ending Russia's war in Ukraine, Trump leaned on his amateur envoys instead: real estate developer turned "special envoy for peace missions" Steven Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. The actual secretary of state got the sidelines.

That is exactly why the "quieter role" on Iran stands out. UK officials and Republicans have noticed that Rubio, despite leading US foreign policy on paper, kept a low profile on the war. Maybe that was foresight. Maybe it was a man who saw the iceberg and made sure his fingerprints weren't on the wheel.

A Record He'd Rather You Forget

A presidential bid invites scrutiny, and Rubio's file is not exactly a beach read. The reporting flags his role in the campaign of airstrikes on small boats in the Caribbean alleged to be carrying narcotics, which critics have called extrajudicial executions. He has also helped oversee a cozy and opaque relationship with interim Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez, after the US ousted Nicolas Maduro in a military operation in January.

So the candidate who wants to run away from Iran has a few other things in the closet. Voters tend to ask about those once the debate stage lights come on.

Rubio, for his part, told reporters in September he had "no plans at this time" for a White House bid and was "100 per cent focused" on his current jobs. He has also indicated he would stand down if Vance runs. Politicians say a lot of things in September that they stop saying in November.

From "Liddle Marco" to Heir Apparent

Remember where this started. A decade ago, Trump mocked him as "Liddle Marco" during their first clash on the campaign trail. Now Rubio is firmly inside the innermost circle of Trumpworld, and the same man who got the nickname is reportedly the favorite to inherit the party.

The UK government has noticed too. Yvette Cooper is understood to regard him as "brilliantly intelligent" and "very good to engage with," and one senior UK source said they expect him to run. When foreign governments are gaming out your presidential campaign before you've announced it, the resignation is basically a formality.