President-elect Donald Trump officially picked Senator Marco Rubio as his next secretary of state on Wednesday.

Trump said he was greatly honored to nominate the Florida Republican for the cabinet position in his upcoming administration.

“Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom,” Trump said in a statement from his presidential-transition team. “He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.”

Rubio’s nomination, first reported by the New York Times on Monday, requires confirmation by the GOP-controlled Senate. Should Rubio be confirmed, Florida governor Ron DeSantis will be tasked with appointing his successor in the upper chamber.

Rubio, who has held the same Senate seat since 2011, holds strong foreign-policy views that will complement Trump’s America First vision. In particular, Rubio strongly backs Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and has criticized the Biden administration for not supporting its ally enough. He also believes Iran, China, and Russia are the greatest threats to the U.S.

After Trump won the presidential election last week, Rubio declared a new era in U.S. foreign policy.

“We are now in an era in global affairs where responsible American foreign policy must be based not on idealistic fantasies but on pragmatic decisions that prioritize the core national interest of the United States above all else,” he posted on X.

Rubio has repeatedly blasted the Biden administration’s approach of funding a “stalemate” in the Russia-Ukraine war, referring to the more than $64 billion in weapons and military assistance that the U.S. has provided Ukraine since 2022.

“That’s just not realistic,” he said of the foreign aid in a post-election interview. “Add to that, Ukraine is being wiped out. Every day, Ukraine is being hit and damaged in ways that are going to take 100 years to repair and restore. So we do want to see that conflict end, and it’s going to require some very difficult choices.”

Once considered a neoconservative, Rubio has increasingly aligned with Trump in recent years. The pair clashed as candidates during the 2016 presidential primary. At the time, Trump called Rubio “Little Marco” and Rubio shot back by insulting his opponent’s small hands. Since then, they have become close allies.

The senator was even in the running to be Trump’s running mate before Senator J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) was chosen.