commentary The secretary of state is busy remaking his department as a tool of MAGA and white racial authoritarianism Published May 5, 2026 6:45AM (EDT) Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Donald Trump ’s war of choice against Iran is a strategic failure that has exposed the limits of America’s power and influence in the Middle East and around the world. In a highly unusual move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been conspicuously absent from the negotiations with the Islamic Republic that led to a tenuous ceasefire, ceding the diplomatic spotlight to Vice President JD Vance , along with the administration’s “peace envoys” Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and Trump friend.  A recent New York Times report detailed how expansive Rubio’s absence has been. In addition to missing peace negotiations with Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, he did not attend meetings in Doha and Geneva.…