Politics

Is Marco Rubio the Happiest Cabinet Member?

While his colleagues deal with war and controversy, he’s laughing and talking in rap lyrics.

First published in The Atlantic on May 9, 2026.

by Matt Viser, The Atlantic

May 13, 2026 | reading time: 9 Min.

It’s a low bar, perhaps, but no one in the Trump administration seems to be having more fun at the moment than Marco Rubio. Last weekend, he was acting as a DJ at a family wedding, headphones to his ear with head and hand pumping to the beat. Midweek, the secretary of state was at the podium in the White House briefing room, spitting rap lyrics and cracking jokes. (“Two more questions!” he said, before entertaining seven more.) And toward the end of the week, he was in Vatican City, being escorted through marble hallways by members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who has been criticized by the president and vice president.