Those who watched the speech by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend were undoubtedly struck by his impressive statesmanship and the unexpected standing ovation he received from European leaders. But one might draw another conclusion from the most important address ever delivered on the world stage by the man in charge of implementing President Donald Trump’s foreign policy: It looked like someone planning to run for president. Or if he isn’t, perhaps he should reconsider.

There have been rave reviews of the speech all around, and, as arguably the most effective Republican politician in the nation not named Trump, Rubio is well aware of it. But, of course, there is a problem. The man Rubio calls his best friend in the administration, Vice President JD Vance, has done little or nothing to deny speculation that he will run for the top spot. Rubio has said that if Vance is running, he will stay out of the race and support his friend. Not to imply that Rubio was necessarily being disingenuous, but politicians are famously prone to changing their minds.

Blind speculation and the reading of tea leaves are already underway about the ultimate motive(s) behind Rubio’s speech. Was this merely a successful attempt to still the rough waters stirred up by the president in Europe? Was his statesmanlike tone and message designed to set him apart from Vance, who famously dressed down Europeans at the same conference in 2025, particularly on their wokeness and criminalization of speech?

Or was this meant to be the first blush of a second run for the White House?

Almost a First: Trump Has No Opinion

President Trump........

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