He is also an Army National Guard veteran and served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to his website.

A fellow tough-on-China politician, Mike Waltz, has been named Trump’s national security adviser, taking up the crucial post amid prolonged conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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The picks are emblematic of Trump’s desire to rapidly round out his administration with loyal allies before Inauguration Day on January 20.

Rubio, meanwhile, is a three-term senator who is a hawk on China and Iran, and while he supported Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, he has recently advocated for the conflict to end as soon as possible.

He also competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, describing him at the time as a “con artist” who wasn’t going to “make America great – he’s gonna make America orange”.

One of his most memorable moments during the primaries took place on the debate stage against Trump when he made a seemingly crude joke about the Republican’s small hands.

“Have you seen his hands? Rubio said as the crowd erupted. “And you know what they say about men with small hands … You can’t trust them.”

But Trump had his share of insults against Rubio, too, describing him during their rivalry as “clueless”, a “choker”, and a “total lightweight who I wouldn’t hire to run one of my smaller companies”.

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The pair have grown closer in recent years, even though Rubio is seen as more of an establishment figure than a MAGA acolyte.

Fellow Floridian Waltz was confirmed as national security adviser in a statement on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First foreign policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of peace through strength!” Trump said.

The former colonel is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is also a strong ally of the former president and last year warned, “the era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress is over”.

Waltz now steps into a role that four other people churned through in Trump’s first administration. The first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, lasted 22 days before resigning amid claims he misled the administration over his communications with Russia before Trump took office.

Two others, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, were eventually pushed out by Trump over their policy disagreements, while the fourth, Robert O’Brien, is among the names touted to be part of Trump’s second administration.

On Tuesday, Trump said he would nominate former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and ex-director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA.