Of all of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, no one has been more impressive than Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Indeed, Trump’s choice of Rubio to head the State Department was seen as solid if not a bit of capitulation to the Washington establishment, as Rubio had been in the Senate for over a decade. That showed when he won nearly unanimous confirmation. Some Democrats now regret their vote for him.

Famously, during his first presidential run, with Rubio among the field of Republican candidates, Trump dismissively referred to him as “Little Marco.”

Well, it’s amazing what time and a common cause can do. Far from little, Rubio is proving to be one of Trump’s biggest assets. It is thanks in large part to Rubio that Trump has seen success in cleaning up and ridding the federal government of the plague of DEI. Rubio has reformed the State Department in ways that many may have thought impossible.

Furthermore, Rubio has impressively advanced Trump’s foreign policy agenda, seeing successful developments in the Middle East, securing the Panama Canal away from China’s nefarious threatening influence, and fleshing out and firmly establishing Trump’s America First policy.

Rubio has deftly defended and explained Trump’s policy positions, often better than Trump himself. In short, Rubio has conducted himself far more effectively than many would have believed possible.

This is especially true when it comes to his former Democrat colleagues.

This week, Rubio sat before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Virginia Democrat Senator Tim Kaine questioned Rubio regarding the Trump administration’s decision to grant refugee status to South African white farmers of Dutch ancestry known as Afrikaners. The Afrikaners, a minority population in the country, have been experiencing racist persecution from the majority black culture in South Africa. Even the African country’s government has passed legislation directly impacting these Afrikaners, permitting the confiscation of their farmland without compensation.

Yet the fact that they are white appears to have Democrats upset. Kaine challenged Rubio, “Do you think Afrikaner farmers are the most persecuted group in the world?” Rubio expertly parried the leading question away, noting that there are millions of persecuted people around the world, but the U.S. can’t take all of them.

When Kaine continued to press on why some Afrikaners had been given this refugee status, suggesting that it had to do with their racial makeup, Rubio shot back, “I’m not the one arguing that. Apparently you are because you don’t like the fact that they are white.” He then added, “The United States has a right to pick and choose who they allow in.” Precisely.

“If there is a subset of people that are easier to vet, who we have a better understanding of who they are and what they’re going to do when they come here, they’re going to receive preference — no doubt about it," Rubio explained. "There are a lot of sad stories around the world, millions and millions of people around the world. It’s heartbreaking. We cannot assume millions and millions of people around the world. No country can.”

In a face-off with another Democrat, Senator Chris Van Hollen told Rubio, “I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for secretary of state.” Rubio, quick on his feet, quipped, “First of all, your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job.” Van Hollen at one point raised the case of wife-beating MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the illegal alien Democrats and the Leftmedia euphemistically labeled “Maryland man” — whom the Trump administration deported to El Salvador, his home country. Van Hollen questioned why the Trump administration had not followed the Supreme Court’s decision to facilitate his return.

Rubio responded by educating Van Hollen on the nature of the separate branches of the federal government. “The judicial branch cannot tell me or the president how to conduct foreign policy,” Rubio pointedly noted. “No judge can tell me how I have to outreach to a foreign partner, or what I need to say to them. And if I do reach that foreign partner and talk to them, I am under no obligation to share that with the judiciary branch. Just like a judge cannot order me to negotiate with a foreign minister of Russia; they cannot order me to negotiate with a foreign minister or the president of El Salvador.”

Democrats also took issue with Rubio revoking the visas of foreign college students who have fomented anti-Semitism on campuses such as Columbia University.

In the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democrat Representative Pramila Jayapal pressed Rubio on a Turkish national student whose visa was revoked. “Where in the Constitution does it say that the secretary of state can override the First Amendment protections of free speech?” she asked. “Is there a footnote that I missed somewhere?”

Rubio pointedly answered, “There is no constitutional right to a student visa. She was a guest in the United States on a student visa.” He continued, “No one is entitled to a student visa. We deny visas every day, and we will revoke and consider revoking visas.”

Jayapal kept pushing. “You revoked her student visa based on an op-ed, which trumps the supreme law of the land, which is the Constitution.”

Rubio’s response proved to be eerily prophetic. “If someone is coming here to stir up problems on our campuses, we’re going to revoke their visa,” he said. “We are going to revoke the visa of anyone who’s in the country as a guest who’s here to stir up trouble.” After a little more back and forth, Rubio bluntly stated, “I’m looking to get crazy people out of our country.”

It was a particularly timely response given the Wednesday evening murder of two young Jewish staffers from the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, by a man motivated by anti-Israel sentiments.

We don’t need foreign students coming to the U.S. with an anti-American and anti-Semitic agenda. And if they are found to be engaging in such speech and activity, the U.S. government has every right to revoke their visas — and should.

Overall, Rubio delivered a master class in handling Congress and promoting Trump’s America First policy. His performance has been so impressive, in fact, that Vice President JD Vance will have some serious competition come 2028.