Rubio was one of Trump's harshest Republican critics in 2016. He called Trump a “con artist” and warned that he shouldn't be trusted with the presidency.
Over the next several years, Rubio became one of Trump's strongest allies.
That change isn't wrongdoing by itself, but it's important context for everything that followed.
Asking China to Investigate Biden:
In 2019, Trump publicly said China should investigate Joe Biden.
When Rubio was asked about it, he suggested Trump might just be “needling the press.”
Rubio had no way of knowing that was Trump's intention. Instead of criticizing a president for asking a foreign government to investigate a political opponent, he gave Trump a more innocent explanation.
Trump's First Impeachment:
During Trump's first impeachment trial, Rubio argued that even if Trump's actions met the standard for impeachment, removing him from office could still be bad for the country.
He also voted against calling additional witnesses and ultimately voted to acquit Trump.
His argument wasn't simply that Trump had done nothing wrong. It was that removal wasn't justified even if his actions were impeachable.
January 6:
Rubio strongly condemned the January 6 attack on the Capitol and voted to certify Joe Biden's victory.
He later voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial.
Rubio also voted against creating an independent bipartisan commission to investigate January 6.
Later, he called the House January 6 investigation a “complete partisan scam.”
2020 Election Claims:
Rubio originally accepted Biden's 2020 victory.
By 2024, he was repeating several claims about problems with the election, including questionable signatures, ballot drop boxes and alleged vote buying.
Fact-checkers and government investigations found that several of the specific claims he repeated were unsupported or misleading.
Foreign Students and Political Speech:
After becoming Secretary of State in 2025, Rubio supported revoking visas from foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.
The State Department reviewed people's social media and political activity while looking for people whose visas could be revoked.
Rubio publicly said hundreds of visas had been revoked.
A federal judge later ruled that the administration's campaign violated First Amendment protections.
Rümeysa Öztürk:
One of the clearest examples involved Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University.
Öztürk had helped write a student newspaper opinion piece criticizing the university's response to the war in Gaza.
According to reporting on internal government records, officials looked for evidence connecting her to Hamas or antisemitic activity and didn't find it.
Her visa was revoked anyway.
The revocation was made “silent,” meaning she wasn't notified beforehand.
Masked plainclothes immigration officers later detained her on the street.
Whatever someone's position on Israel or Gaza, using immigration powers against someone when the government's own investigation failed to establish the alleged extremist connection raises serious concerns about political speech and government power.
Visa Restrictions on 75 Countries:
In January 2026, Rubio's State Department suspended immigrant-visa processing for citizens of 75 countries.
The administration said the policy was intended to prevent immigrants from becoming dependent on public assistance.
In August 2026, a federal judge struck down the policy, ruling that Rubio had exceeded the authority Congress gave him.
USAID:
Rubio became acting head of USAID while also serving as Secretary of State.
Under his leadership, roughly 83% of USAID programs were terminated.
The administration also froze foreign-aid money that Congress had already approved.
Federal courts ruled against important parts of the administration's approach, finding that the executive branch could not simply ignore spending decisions made by Congress.
Signal Military Chat:
Rubio was part of the 2025 Signal group chat where senior Trump officials discussed an upcoming U.S. military operation against the Houthis in Yemen.
A journalist was accidentally added to the group.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to have shared the most sensitive military information, not Rubio.
Rubio's involvement still meant the Secretary of State was participating in a commercial messaging-app conversation where sensitive information about an upcoming military attack was being discussed.
El Salvador Prison Deal:
El Salvador's president offered to imprison people deported from the United States, including potentially American citizens convicted of crimes.
Rubio praised the offer while acknowledging there could be legal problems with sending American citizens to foreign prisons.
El Salvador's prison system has also faced serious criticism over prison conditions, mass detention and lack of due process.
Human Rights Reports:
The State Department publishes reports on human-rights abuses around the world.
Under Rubio, those reports were significantly changed.
Criticism of some governments friendly with Trump, particularly El Salvador, was reduced.
At the same time, some governments that had poor relationships with the Trump administration received harsher treatment.
That raised concerns that America's official human-rights reports were being influenced by political relationships rather than applying the same standards to everyone.
Mass Visa Revocations:
Rubio has acknowledged that the State Department revoked thousands of visas.
His department has also developed additional large-scale visa-revocation programs.
The federal government has broad authority over visas. The controversy is over how that authority has been used, especially when political speech and social-media activity are involved.
Deportations to Third Countries:
Rubio's State Department helped negotiate agreements allowing the United States to deport some immigrants to countries they weren't originally from.
Immigration attorneys and human-rights organizations argue that this can weaken protections intended to prevent people from being sent somewhere they could face abuse or persecution.
NRA Support:
Rubio has received substantial political support from the National Rifle Association.
Claims that the NRA simply gave Rubio millions of dollars are misleading. Much of that money was independently spent by the NRA to help elect him rather than being given directly to Rubio.
After the 2018 Parkland school shooting, a student asked Rubio to promise that he would no longer accept NRA support.
Rubio refused.
This doesn't prove that the NRA bought Rubio's votes, but the financial relationship is worth knowing when evaluating his record on gun legislation.
Oil and Gas Money:
Rubio has also received significant campaign support from people and organizations connected to the oil and gas industry.
He has generally supported policies favorable to that industry.
Again, campaign contributions don't prove bribery. They do create reasonable questions about the influence major donors have on politicians.
Concentration of Power:
Under Trump's second administration, Rubio held several powerful positions.
In addition to Secretary of State, he served at different times as acting national security adviser, acting administrator of USAID and acting National Archivist.
Those appointments were not automatically illegal or corrupt.
They did give one Trump ally an unusual amount of control over foreign policy, national security, visas, foreign aid and other parts of the federal government.
So... There's plenty to be upset about.
There isn't strong evidence that Marco Rubio has been taking bribes, stealing government money or personally enriching himself through his government positions.
The bigger issue is his political transformation and how he has used government power.
Rubio went from warning that Trump was a dangerous “con artist” to defending him, voting against holding him accountable, repeating some of his disputed election claims and eventually becoming one of the most powerful officials in his administration.
Since becoming Secretary of State, the concerns have become more serious. Rubio has been directly involved in visa revocations tied to political activism, immigration restrictions later struck down by a federal court, the dismantling of USAID, controversial deportation programs and changes to how the United States reports human-rights abuses.
The strongest criticism of Rubio isn't that he's been caught in one huge corruption scandal.
It's that he spent years warning about Trump's behavior, gradually stopped opposing it, and eventually became one of the people helping carry it out.
