Trump to appoint hardliners Rubio and Waltz as foreign policy chiefs, reports claim

US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to appoint Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz as his secretary of state and national security adviser, according to preliminary reports that also suggest the president-elect could still change his mind last minute.

Both picks, however, are indicative of Trump's foreign policy priorities, as they have pushed for the US to look inward and have been critical of European countries' not spending enough on defence, especially in the context of the NATO alliance.

For one, Rubio argued that European countries should "take the lead" when it comes to defence on the continent. "Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are more than capable of managing their relationship with the nuclear-armed belligerent to their east," Rubio wrote in the American Conservative last year.

Elsewhere, he has promoted a hardline approach to Iran, China and Cuba.

When it comes to Beijing, Rubio has advocated for greater scrutiny of Beijing's influence on US technology, calling on the Department of Treasury to launch a national security review into Chinese social media app TikTok in 2019.

Rubio called China "the most powerful adversary the US has faced in living memory" in a report authored in September. China, for its part, sanctioned Rubio last year.

On Ukraine, he has said that although he supports the country still fighting against Russia's full-scale invasion, the current conflict between Moscow and Kyiv should be brought to a "conclusion".

On the Middle East crisis, Rubio has strongly backed Israel, calling Hamas militants "vicious animals" and accusing US officials who supported a ceasefire in Gaza of subordination, signalling he would also promote a hard-line approach in the region.

In April, Rubio voted against a