Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has a special interest in Latin America. So does President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has been laying out plans to expand U.S. influence — and territorial control — across the Americas.
Since his first presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has made curbing migration and immigration to the United States a central focus of his, and his voter base has embraced it.
Much of the diplomacy over these issues will fall to Mr. Rubio, a Florida Republican, if he is confirmed as secretary of state. Christopher Landau, the former ambassador to Mexico named by Mr. Trump to be Mr. Rubio’s deputy, also has a deep background in Latin America and an interest in the region.
Mr. Trump has said he plans to impose blanket tariffs across many countries, including on goods from Canada and Mexico, two important trade partners. Mr. Rubio will have to try to defuse some of the tensions arising from that threat and from the actual imposition of tariffs, if that occurs.
Mr. Trump has also suggested taking over Canada and making it the 51st state, which Justin Trudeau, the country’s prime minister, has rejected.
“It’s not going to happen,” Mr. Trudeau told Jen Psaki on Sunday on MSNBC.
In addition, Mr. Trump has talked about annexing Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Arctic Ocean that is controlled by Denmark, a NATO ally. Leaders in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe have denounced Mr. Trump’s remarks, while officials in Greenland have said that they are open to discussions with the Trump administration, but not about territorial control. Mr. Rubio could be involved in those talks, which might center on military basing and access to natural resources.