President Donald Trump has formally made Secretary of State Marco Rubio his permanent national security adviser, cementing a rare dual role at the center of U.S. foreign policy.
Trump recently signed a commission making the appointment official, according to The Hill and Fox News Digital. A White House official confirmed the development to The Hill, while Fox News cited White House, State Department and senior administration officials.
Rubio had served as acting national security adviser since May 2025, when Trump moved Mike Waltz out of the West Wing role and later installed him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
At the time, Trump said Rubio would take over the national security post on an interim basis while continuing to lead the State Department.
“In the interim, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as National Security Advisor, while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 1, 2025. “Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN.”
The signed commission removes the “interim” label and ensures Rubio will continue overseeing the National Security Council process while serving as Trump’s top diplomat. Fox News reported that he will remain a direct line to the president on national security matters.
A Rare Dual Role
Rubio is only the second person in U.S. history to simultaneously serve as secretary of state and national security adviser. Henry Kissinger held both positions under President Richard Nixon during the 1970s.
The national security adviser works inside the White House and coordinates policy discussions involving defense, intelligence and diplomacy. Unlike the secretary of state, the position does not require Senate confirmation.
Combining the roles gives Rubio substantial influence over both the development of national security policy inside the West Wing and its execution through the State Department.
Trump has repeatedly described Rubio as a trusted problem-solver.
“When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets it solved,” Trump said last year after selecting Rubio to replace Waltz, according to The Hill.
Rubio’s responsibilities have extended well beyond the two positions he now holds permanently. Trump previously named him acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Rubio also served for a time as acting archivist of the United States.
The additional assignments have given the former Florida senator a broad portfolio in Trump’s second-term administration.
From Temporary Assignment to Permanent Post
Rubio stepped into the national security role after Waltz became embroiled in the controversy commonly known as “Signalgate.” Waltz had created a Signal group chat in which senior administration officials discussed forthcoming U.S. military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, and The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to the conversation.
Trump subsequently announced that Waltz would be nominated as U.N. ambassador and handed Rubio the national security portfolio on an acting basis.
More than a year later, the signed commission formalizes the arrangement as the administration manages a crowded foreign-policy agenda.
The appointment also comes as Rubio continues to draw speculation about a possible 2028 presidential campaign. Rubio told Colombian television network RCN earlier this month that he currently has no plans to run and is focused on his work in the administration.
“I’m not a candidate for anything right now,” Rubio said in the interview, according to an NBC News translation cited by The Hill. “And I’m 100 percent focused on my job, and I have to be because I have two jobs.”
Those two positions are now formally combined under Rubio.
