Trump's Secretary of State Is Senator Who Supported Designation of Taliban As Terror Group

US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Senator Marco Rubio as his administration's secretary of state, Reuters reported.

In 2021, Rubio and 21 other senators proposed a bill to designate the Taliban as a terrorist organisation.

This Florida-born politician is on track to be the first Latino to serve as America's top diplomat once the Republican president-elect takes office in January. In recent years, his views have been more aligned with Donald Trump.

As Secretary of State in the Trump administration, Rubio will face further challenges stemming from the ongoing instability in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Reuters wrote that the war between Ukraine and Russia will be at the top of Rubio's agenda.

The US senator recently said in interviews that instead of focusing on retaking territories seized by Russia over the past decade, Ukraine should seek a negotiated solution with Moscow.

He was also among 15 senators who opposed sending $95 billion in military aid to Ukraine in April of this year.

‘Marco Rubio's Stance On Taliban’

Trump's choice for the US Secretary of State has held a tough stance against the Taliban over the years.

In February, Marco Rubio introduced a bill titled "Stop Terrorist Financing" to make the distribution of UN aid in Afghanistan more transparent. He said that the US government should halt humanitarian aid to Afghanistan until it stops the Taliban's misuse of foreign aid.

Rubio told Fox News, "Terrorist organisations like the Taliban should not benefit from American taxpayer money. Unfortunately, this is a scenario that is actually happening before our eyes. Until we make sure, the said aid to the UN will be suspended."

In July 2022, Rubio and some other senators proposed another bill to Congress that would have prevented the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan.

The bill was proposed after the Taliban announced that a member of the group had been released from Guantanamo Bay as a result of "positive engagement" with the United States.

Also in October 2021, Marco Rubio and 21 other Republican senators introduced a bill calling on the US State Department to designate the Taliban as a terrorist organisation. The bill, titled the "Preventing Terrorist States Designation Act," also called for sanctions on countries that aid the Taliban.