When Marco Rubio signed on as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, he went into the job “with eyes wide open,” according to a person familiar with his thinking. He knew it wouldn’t be easy working for Trump. He knew that Trump had a track record of firing top officials by tweet. He also knew what it was like to be called, “Little Marco.”

Rubio still lobbied for the prestigious job of being America’s top diplomat after he lost out on being Trump’s vice president to JD Vance.

What Rubio didn’t count on was that he might run the risk of being overshadowed as secretary of state by one of Trump’s closest friends, real estate developer and billionaire Steve Witkoff.

Over the first two months of the second Trump administration, Rubio has in some ways taken a back seat on the world stage to Witkoff, whose portfolio has expanded beyond his official title of special envoy to the Middle East.