Trump Expected to Nominate Marco Rubio for Secretary of State
12:45 Share

After nearly 200 years of mitigating risk, at FM, we can see what others don't. As leaders in commercial property insurance, our risk engineering approach can protect your business in ways others can't. See more at FM.com. Marco Rubio emerges as Trump's pick for Secretary of State. We'll look at how he could shape U.S. foreign policy.

Plus, Republicans lock in a 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate and rival Palestinian factions craft a plan for Gaza's post-war recovery. Hamas is largely defeated militarily. The Fatah-run government is facing a financial crisis. So both sides are very weakened.

and they are talking together to try to find an understanding. It's Tuesday, November 12th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We are reporting that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, potentially placing a more establishment figure in the role of America's top diplomat.

Spokespeople for the Trump transition and Rubio didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, and Trump could still change his mind on the move.

Meanwhile, Trump has asked Florida Representative Mike Waltz to serve as White House National Security Advisor, a cabinet-level position in which his skepticism for America's support for Ukraine and his calls for Europe to do more to ensure the collective defense of NATO members could have a major bearing on U.S. foreign policy. And joining me now with more on what Trump's potential picks for top diplomatic and national security roles could tell us, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal correspondent Thomas Grove.

Thomas, what's your read on Rubio and Waltz?

And what we're seeing now is somebody who wants to see the conflict end as soon as possible. He's criticized U.S. funding as funding a stalemate. Waltz has some very interesting positions which echo Rubio's for sure. But one of the things that he is proposing is that if Vladimir Putin doesn't come to the table to negotiate, the U.S. could take the brakes off of some of the longer range weapons that could be used inside Russia.

Having Rubio and Waltz here is certainly going to be a lot tougher on Putin than what Trump is suggesting through his public comments. But I think we have to really dig beyond that and see exactly what they're going to be doing on a policy basis here.

And finally, Thomas, in terms of what happens between now and Trump's inauguration, we saw over the weekend Ukraine and Russia launching their largest drone attacks. Yet in the conflict, Russia has also amassed a lot of fresh troops. Ukraine, meanwhile, trying to hold together its electrical grid, not lose too much ground on the front lines. I mean, what are we likely to see between now and mid to late January? This is the point at which both sides are going to be putting up the best fight they possibly can.

And with Russia, that means probably an imminent offensive in Kursk. That's the territory that Ukrainian troops were able to occupy after a cross-border invasion in August. And Russia is also going to try to make a fresh push on various positions on the battleground inside Ukraine. That's mostly in the east.

Ukraine, which has a great disadvantage in terms of manpower, will be doing whatever they can. And that means probably a lot of drones. That's one area in which they've really shown that they can do a lot. And this is a point in which the quantity of drones that they've sent across the border is starting to have qualitative effects in various ways. Journal correspondent Thomas Grove. Thomas, thanks. Thank you so much.

And before we leave U.S. politics behind, Democrat Ruben Gallego has defeated Republican Kerry Lake in Arizona's Senate race, putting the final Senate split at 53 Republican seats to Democrats' 47. Lake's loss was part of a broader trend of Republicans in battleground state Senate races underperforming Donald Trump, as Democrats won races in Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, all states that Trump carried.

Coming up, Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah edge toward a post-war recovery plan in Gaza. And Exxon's CEO says that Trump should keep the U.S. in the Paris climate agreement. We've got those stories and more after the break.

It takes more than just AI to prepare your business for the future. Your people need the skills to unleash its potential. Guild's learning and skilling solutions prepare your workforce for business transformation. Find out how at guild.com. Long bitter rivals, the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have come to an agreement on a plan to help oversee aid distribution in Gaza and the eventual rebuilding of the territory.

And as journal correspondent Benoit Faucon told me, key to the deal is that neither group will be in charge. For many years, Hamas, which is the Islamic faction that runs Gaza, and Fatah, which is a secular faction that runs the West Bank, have been at loggerheads.

Hamas kicked Fatah out of Gaza in 2007. But now the world has changed. After October 7, Hamas is largely defeated militarily. In the West Bank, the Fatah-run government is facing a financial crisis, is facing extension of settlements. So both sides are very weakened.

And they are talking together to try to find an understanding whereby they'll work to set up a Palestinian committee that would be made of independent Palestinians. The idea is that it's known that the international committee wouldn't accept Hamas to run humanitarian affairs there. They'd be worried about sanctions and diversion. And Benoit, would this...

potential plan be acceptable to Israel? Well, we know the main focus of Israeli thinking is really to find ways to secure the Gaza Strip. So, for instance, through various corridors where they could do fast-track interventions rather than come to the governance and civilian side. What remains to be seen is really what the Trump administration is going to say about this reconciliation, about this independent Gaza committee. That's going to be the key and is still the unknown.

And finally, Benoit, this is coming as aid groups today are reporting that Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands issued 30 days ago to surge more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Would this plan by Hamas and FATA address that immediate situation in any way? Reconciliation is not something that affects humanitarian endeavors immediately. However, no side wants a vacuum here. So at least you have a ready-made solution here.

That was journal correspondent Benoit Faucon.

We are exclusively reporting that ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods says President-elect Donald Trump should not pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, telling the journal that Trump's proposal to exit the international pledge for a second time would create uncertainty that's unhelpful for business. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement in his first term before Biden rejoined it in 2021.

Wood's remarks come as he attends the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he said that policymakers are becoming more receptive to the idea that limiting fossil fuel supplies and forcing expensive green energy alternatives into the market isn't working.

The summit has also been dominated by talk of China taking a greater lead in climate policy ahead of the Trump administration likely putting the issue on the back burner. Here was U.S. Climate Envoy John Podesta yesterday. In January, we're going to inaugurate a president whose relationship to climate change is captured by the words hoax and fossil fuels. He's vowed to dismantle our environmental safeguards and once again withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.

That is what he has said, and we should believe him. Oil and gas giant Shell has won an appeal in a Dutch court against a landmark 2021 ruling that said it was partially responsible for climate change and must sharply cut its carbon emissions. At the time, a district court in The Hague ordered the company, which was then based in the Netherlands, to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by the end of 2030 from 2019 levels.

The Dutch arm of environmental group Friends of the Earth, which led the civil suit against Shell, called the decision a shocking setback, but didn't say whether it planned an appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court, which could extend the legal fight for years. Shell's chief executive, Wael Sawan, said the company believed the court's decision was the right one for the global energy transition. Shell's share price is little changed in midday trading.

And in other news moving markets today, SoftBank returned to a net profit in the second quarter, boosted by gains in its tech-focused Vision Funds business. The Japanese investment company said its net profit was about $7.7 billion for the three months ending in September, compared with a net loss a year earlier, when its bottom line was dragged by losses related to WeWork's bankruptcy in the U.S.

Bitcoin's streak of setting new record highs continues, with the cryptocurrency briefly topping $89,000 in early trading today as Trump's election victory continues to reverberate through markets. Ethereum, Solana, and Dogecoin, the meme token that Elon Musk likes to promote, have also jumped.

And U.S. airlines are suspending flights to Haiti after a Spirit Airlines plane that took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, appeared to be hit by gunfire while attempting to land in the country yesterday. Spirit said it had suspended flights to Haiti until further investigation, and the damaged plane was put out of service after it was diverted to the Dominican Republic. American Airlines and JetBlue Airways said they were canceling their flights to Haiti until at least Thursday.

The Spirit Airlines incident came a day after the country's acting prime minister was fired by a ruling council created to restore order. Gangs have seized on the ongoing insecurity in Haiti and have ramped up attacks on the capital, Port-au-Prince, in recent months.

And that's it for What's News for Tuesday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant. Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach. And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening. ♪

Frustrated with high taxes on your investments? With FREC, you get similar market returns on indices like the S&P 500 while saving on capital gains taxes. Our daily tax loss harvesting can potentially save you thousands every year and even more returns when you reinvest in those savings. So if you're looking to reduce your tax burden and increase your returns,

FREC is designed for you. And the best part? You get all of this for fees starting at just 0.1%. Yes, 0.1%. Ready to keep more of your returns? Visit FREC.com.

That's frec.com and discover how direct indexing can transform your investing. Frec.com, where smarter investing meets tax efficiency. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Brokered services provided by Frec Securities LLC, member FINRA SIPC, and advisory services provided by affiliate Frec Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Fees vary based on index investment.