Is Marco Rubio playing Trump?

“He’s the driving force. I don’t think Trump would have gone in and captured Nicolás Maduro if it hadn’t been for Marco Rubio pushing him behind the scenes.”

Lauren Gambino, a political correspondent for Guardian US, has been following the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, for a decade. She describes to Nosheen Iqbal the Cuban-American community in south Florida that has shaped much of Rubio’s politics, his rise through different versions of the Republican party project, and his ability to realise his own strategic goals by reframing them through Trump’s priorities.

Finally, the pair discuss how far Rubio is willing to support Trump to achieve his own ends, and whether he may in fact emerge as Trump’s heir.

Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/todayinfocuspod

Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters