The Grenell Snub, Rubio’s Rise & The MAGA Divide

Ric Grenell MAGA Trump
The Grenell snub is only the latest in a series of Trump choices that are sure to be controversial with one or another constituency. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
November 13, 2024

There’s a chill in the air over Mar-a-Lago as Trump’s courtiers remember that while Trump demands loyalty, he’s hardly loyal himself. A stark reminder of this came last night, when The New York Times reported that Trump was passing over Ric Grenell to likely select Marco Rubio for Secretary of State. Anyone who has spent time with Trump over the past eight years knows that Grenell has been at his side, soldiering on next to him even in his darkest hours of post-January 6 exile, when Rubio took to the Senate floor to denounce the chaos that had erupted that day. “Ric busted his ass this campaign,” said a senior Trump advisor. “For years, actually.”