Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a remarkable year in 2025.

There was a quiet winner in Washington D.C. in 2025. Someone who worked diligently and effectively, mostly behind the scenes and under the press radar. 

A statesman who managed to stay above most of the partisan frays and culture war dust ups.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Underestimated throughout his career — often to the sorrow of his political opponents — Mr. Rubio demonstrated his leadership qualities at every turn.

“We have a lot of achievements this year,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio began in a holiday address earlier this week. 

“Let’s start with the peace deals: One peace deal after another, India, Pakistan were ready to go to war, a very dangerous war,” Secretary Rubio explained. “The president stopped it. Cambodia and Thailand, we got that peace deal put in place. Azerbaijan and Armenia, a war that could have started that would have been terrible, we put that into place. And of course, Gaza, that long war, nobody saw an end to it.”

“The president got involved, brought it to an end, and with a plan for long-term stability and security,” said Mr. Rubio. “Beyond that, we went to Europe this year and the president got NATO to do something no president has ever been able to get NATO to do, and that is increase their defense spending to 5%. Just a few years ago, they were at 1%, 2%, 5% for all these countries, an incredible achievement by President Trump and his team here.”

“Beyond that, I’m very proud of the reforms under the president’s leadership that we’ve done at the State Department,” Rubio went on. “We got rid of USAID. We brought all that foreign aid under the State Department so that now, when we give money to countries, we know where the money’s going, and we know we’re helping our allies and our friends, and not just enriching some third-party group that’s making a bunch of money from your taxpayer dollars.”

“We also helped secure the border,” Rubio bragged. “That’s been a responsibility of the Homeland Security Department, but we had a role to play, not just in the deals we made with other countries to send people back. We’ve got more countries than ever accepting their people that are in this country illegally from their countries. They’re taking them back. They’re also helping us stop them from coming here in the first place. This is a great achievement.”

“So on issue after issue, the president has kept his promise to the American people,” Rubio said. “He’s keeping us safe by taking the war to the drug cartels, the drug cartels that are poisoning and killing our people. President Trump, he promised to do it, and he’s stopping them. He’s doing it. He’s keeping his promise to you.”

“2026 is going to bring more challenges, but we have a great president and a great team that he’s built, and we can’t wait to see the exciting achievements of the year to come,” Rubio concluded. “Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy New Year to everybody. The best is yet to come.”

In many ways, Rubio helped bring a sense of coherence back to U.S. foreign policy after years of drift. He was clear-eyed about adversaries and realistic about allies. He spoke plainly about China, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba without lapsing into either naïveté or theatrical outrage. Under his watch, America’s posture abroad looked less apologetic and more self-respecting. That matters, even if it doesn’t trend on social media.

What may be most impressive, though, is how Rubio managed to stay above the political fray. While Washington obsessed over the latest skirmish between Donald Trump and a press corps seemingly more eager than ever to excoriate him, Rubio mostly kept his mouth shut and his focus elsewhere. He didn’t rush to comment. He didn’t try to score points. 

In today’s environment, that restraint is almost radical.

It paid off. Allies dealt with Rubio seriously. Adversaries took him seriously. At home, he earned something rare: credibility across factions that don’t agree on much else.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on a short list of those who accomplished the most in 2025. Politics is full of winners and losers: Governing is often a zero-sum game as far as political parties go.

Mr. Rubio was one of the biggest winners in 2025. He is ending the year with more accomplishments under his belt than when he started. His 2026 outlook is extremely rosy.

The same can’t be said for everyone inside the Beltway.

Who were the biggest losers of 2025? As we head into the New Year, let’s explore the topic.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)