Marco Rubio has changed a lot since he ran for president in 2016. But his political evolution has made him uniquely qualified to be Trump's secretary of state.

The Senate confirmed Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, on Monday as America’s 72nd secretary of state, putting a former political rival of President Trump at the helm of American diplomacy.

Hours after Trump was sworn in as president, senators confirmed his first Cabinet pick and advanced the nominations of several others through committee.

The Senate unanimously approved Senator Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state in the first vote on President Trump’s cabinet selections.

Vice President JD Vance swore in Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Jan. 21, the morning after the Senate unanimously voted to confirm his nomination.

Rubio lost to Trump in 2016 but he’s living his best life as Secretary of State, approved unanimously by his Senate colleagues.

ET Secretary of State Marco Rubio became the first Senate-confirmed official to be sworn into President Trump’s cabinet. Photo: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Marco Rubio, a veteran Republican senator who once ran against Donald Trump for the party’s presidential nomination, was confirmed as his secretary of state, the first of the president’s second-term nominees to be approved by the Senate.