This snub ultimately brought Donald Trump and Marco Rubio closer together.

when trump I passed Rubio The Florida senator, who will be his running mate in July, has not withdrawn from the 2024 campaign. Instead, he doubled down and spent more time traveling with Trump and acting as a surrogate on television.

The men deepened their relationship, which got off to a rocky start when they ran into each other during the 2016 presidential campaign. The relationship progressed through Trump’s first White House post and a return bid to become a mutually beneficial alliance. Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton said Rubio provided important foreign policy input in Oval Office meetings without being overly gratifying, as many people do with the incoming president.

They worked amicably on common policy goals during the first Trump administration, but grew closer as the 2024 campaign ended. They spent more time together, joking, joking about sports and political gossip, and developing a personal bond that went beyond their political careers, according to a close ally of both men.

“They never really, really knew each other that well, and the weird part is they got to know each other after the VP,” the source said, adding that they connected during the trip.

Trump this week picked Rubio as secretary of state, putting him fourth in the presidential standings. these caps eight year revision Their relationship hit rock bottom when Trump made fun of the senator during the 2016 primaries. “Little Marco” and Rubio responds to what Trump said “little hands” and implies that another part of its anatomy is small.

They’ve come a long way from that nasty primary, forging a personal bond in the closing months of the 2024 campaign when Rubio stumbled against the incoming president on the final day of rallies. Observers say they bonded despite their very different backgrounds.

The son of Cuban immigrants who worked as bartenders and maids, Rubio received a modest education in West Miami and spent nearly his entire adult life in politics, first on the West Miami City Commission, then in the Florida House and finally in the U.S. Senate. . Trump, meanwhile, is a businessman who entered politics late after years as a famous developer and television personality.

However, there are similarities in their personalities. Both are playful, outgoing and prone to making jokes.

“They are both boys, children,” the source said. “They both love sports…they both love to joke,” and when they interacted on the campaign trail, it wasn’t “hey, let’s just talk about immigration policy.”

Not only did they show that they enjoyed each other’s company in the final stretch of the campaign, Rubio also proved to be a staunch defender of Trump in difficult moments.

During one of Trump’s toughest stretches in the closing days of the campaign, after a comedian at a Madison Square Garden rally described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” and Trump faced a wave of accusations from Hispanic leaders. Rubio appeared Trump’s next rally (his third in five days) is in Puerto Rican-dominated Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Rubio spoke to the crowd in Spanish and joked with those who didn’t understand: “I basically said I saved a lot of money by switching to GEICO.” Trump, he said, has “the most fascinating, most diverse coalition of Americans of every race, every ethnicity, every walk of life” in modern American political history.

“It also reminds us that an American has never been about the color of our skin, an American has never been where your parents were born… An American is anyone who is here, who wants to move this country forward and who believes in where our rights come from.” God, family is more important than government, and this is the greatest country in the history of the world,” Rubio said, nodding to the country’s immigrant roots.

The presence of Rubio, the nation’s most prominent Hispanic elected official, provided a lively response to criticism that Trump is anti-Hispanic.

“When the fire was hottest,” Rubio “stood up and defended the campaign, defended President Trump in a way few others can,” said a source close to both men.

Now Rubio will be a leading figure in Trump’s cabinet and a potential heir to the MAGA movement; will keep himself in the mix despite losing revenues to incoming Vice President J.D. Vance; He may be best positioned to take over Trump’s job in four years, but he can take on that job. He faces competition from Rubio and others. This is an incredible comeback from 2016; It’s a development that reinvigorates Rubio’s status as a top presidential candidate, although some still question whether he has abandoned his principles.

Reconciliation after a tough campaign

Many Republicans approached Trump after initial skepticism.

But the rift between Rubio and Trump was one of the deepest and most public.

Rubio at the time He called Trump a ‘crook’ A person who cannot be trusted with nuclear codes. Trump mocked Rubio mercilessly.

But after Trump He knocked out Rubio After the 2016 presidential contest ended with a decisive primary victory in his home state of Florida, the senator immediately went to work to align himself with the GOP’s new figurehead.

“After a long and exciting primary, the time for fighting each other is over. It’s time to come together and fight for a new direction for America,” Rubio said. he said. he said in his video message At the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump’s approach to the military, taxes and appointing conservative judges was praised.

After Trump won, Rubio had dinner with the new president and his wife at the White House.

Rubio became an influential foreign policy figure during Trump’s first presidency. He is described as Trump’s shadow secretary of state for Latin America, who implemented tough policies against socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela. He has emerged as one of China’s biggest critics. It has been approved twice by Beijing.

Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, was at the Oval Office meetings Rubio attended and noted how much Trump respected what Rubio said about the Americas.

“Rubio and Trump appeared to have a good personal relationship, and Marco put the point very calmly and persuasively,” Bolton reminded USA TODAY. “I think that had an impact on Trump.”

While many people who have worked with Trump have cited the president-elect’s weakness for flattery, Bolton said he has not seen Rubio use that tactic in his dealings with the president.

“Marco’s approach was always to discuss the substance of the policy and the substance of the issue, and I thought he was very persuasive against Trump,” said Bolton, who has been critical of Trump since leaving the White House.

Marc Short, who served as former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff during the first Trump administration, said both the new president and Rubio appear to have abandoned their contentious primaries long ago.

Short said Trump “always welcomed converts” and Rubio “was always someone who was willing to work with the administration.”

“In my opinion, it was probably more pragmatic in the sense that it was beneficial to both parties,” Short said of interactions between the two men during Trump’s first administration.

Rubio still had differences with Trump, rebuking his comments about a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rubio voted to certify the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claimed was stolen. He supported aid to Ukraine.

But it is now fully aligned with Trump’s agenda. vote against The latest round of Ukrainian aid.

Rubio’s evolution toward Trump has left him facing admirers and critics at both ends of the GOP spectrum. While some MAGA zealots are still wary of his hawkish, interventionist past, there are also establishment Republicans who see him as a sellout. Yet he bridges those worlds like few other Republican figures and has enough goodwill to easily win confirmation in the Senate; Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, calls her a “strong choice” on X.

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said Rubio is “the right guy” for secretary of state and should have “broad support across the board.”

The face of America abroad

Rubio will represent America abroad as Trump’s secretary of state. He is uniquely suited to the role as a skilled communicator with extensive foreign policy experience in the Senate.

“He would be a great face and a great voice for America,” Rounds said.

Bolton said Rubio is “very qualified” for the top diplomat post, noting that the Florida senator is “very knowledgeable about international relations around the world.”

Rubio’s skills as an orator established him as a rising star early in his political career, propelling him to speaker of the Florida House at age 35 and then to U.S. senator at age 39. Now 53, he has 14 years of experience in the Senate. He sits on the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees.

More: Marco Rubio gets a MAGA makeover as he goes from Bush protégé to Trump loyalist

Rubio’s ubiquity on cable television for years is crucial to Trump, who values ​​people who can get his message across on television. Rubio has appeared on conservative cable channel Fox News’ weekday programming 263 times since August 2017, according to the left-wing group Media Matters for America; this includes 70 since January 2023.

“It has become clear over the years that the President likes someone who can go on television and speak in a way that resonates with Americans and demonstrates his talent and the strength of America,” said a source close to both men.

“Marco has had a long, very successful career in front of the camera, and I think that’s one of the things the president sees and appreciates about him,” the person added.

Rubio’s new status as the chief defender of Trump’s foreign policy abroad has eased concerns among some traditional conservatives about how the next administration will perform.

Short called him a “terrific choice.”

“I think this election is very encouraging for conservatives,” he said.

Rubio’s evolution on Ukraine has drawn criticism from both the right and left, in keeping with Trump’s stance against more aid. Short and Bolton support aiding Ukraine in the country’s fight against Russia.

“The only area I would be concerned about is Ukraine, where he has expressed ideas that are more aligned with Trump,” Bolton said. “But still, Ukraine’s problem is Trump, not Rubio.”

Riley Beggin contributed to this report

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump grows closer to Marco Rubio after snubbed him for being Vice President