US Secretary of State Rubio is flying to China wearing a tracksuit, just like Maduro, and under a new name
White House Communications Director Stephen Chung posted a photo of Rubio on board Air Force One.
In it, he is wearing a Nike Tech suit — the same one worn by the then President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, when he was abducted by the US military in January 2026.
“Secretary Rubio is showing off his Nike Tech Venezuela outfit on board Air Force One!” Chung captioned the photo.
Furthermore, according to AFP, Rubio is likely to enter China under a new name in Chinese. This is because, whilst he was a US senator, he fiercely defended human rights in China, for which Beijing imposed sanctions against him.
But when Rubio became Secretary of State, sources say, China began using a different character for the first syllable of his surname, thereby altering the spelling and removing him from the sanctions list.
Marco Rubio was the principal author of a congressional bill that imposed sweeping sanctions on China over the alleged use of forced labour against the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority. He has also spoken out against Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong.
During his confirmation hearings for the post of Secretary of State, Rubio focused heavily on China, describing it as an unprecedented adversary.
However, since taking office, Rubio has supported Trump, who calls Chinese leader Xi Jinping a friend, and has focused on building trade relations.
At the same time, in 2025, Rubio brought some relief to Taiwan. He stated that the Trump administration would not negotiate the future of the self-governing democracy in order to conclude a trade agreement with China.
As a reminder, on 12 May, Trump travelled to China with a delegation to meet Xi Jinping to discuss, in particular, trade, energy and Taiwan. The visit had previously been scheduled for March, but Trump postponed it until May due to the war with Iran. Experts note that both sides are interested in stabilising relations, but suggest that the war with Iran could weaken the US’s position in the negotiations.
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