Next Up with Mark Halperin
Rubio’s Political Resurrection and Power in Trumpworld, and Jessica Reed Kraus Spills Political Tea
06 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: How did Marco Rubio achieve his political comeback?
Everybody, super glad to be back with you in this new year. Happy New Year to all of you, all Nexters out there, old and new. Grateful to be part of your lives as we head into 2026. We're going to talk a lot about politics this year, but a whole bunch of other stuff, too.
I am your tour guide to everything next up, Mark Calperin, editor-in-chief of the live interactive video platform Two-Way, and your host here. Glad to be back, as I said, and eager to be back. to jump in with some great conversations today. Many thanks to all of you. We built up a lot of steam in the first partial year. This is our first full year with you on the air.
Chapter 2: What role did key alliances play in Rubio's success?
We have lots to tell you about in the coming weeks in terms of guests and formats. Excited to cover everything alongside of you and to tell you always with a relentless push on what's next up. Happy to be part of your life. And again, grateful my colleagues and I here to build up head esteem headed into this election year.
Today, we're going to talk to two great folks, very knowledgeable about what's going on in American politics and government. Republican Kristen Davidson and Democrat Kevin Walling will both be here. We're going to talk about about what's going on in our government and politics and what the year 2026 is shaping up to be. And then my friend Jessica Reed Krause will be here.
She is a, she's just a phenomenon.
Chapter 3: How is Marco Rubio influencing U.S. foreign policy?
She's an extraordinary creator of stories and talent and content and a chronicler of our time. And I just, excited to preview how she sees 2026 with Jessica in just a moment, excited to talk to them all about the new year. Before that, though, my reported monologue, two parts of the Venezuela story that I don't think have gotten enough attention.
I've been talking to people in and outside the administration about both Marco Rubio and about the strategy of Team Trump. We're going to talk about all that. That is coming next up. Look, everybody, honest New Year's resolutions. They aren't hashtags. They're about deciding to be sharper, more effective, more in control.
Chapter 4: What are the predictions for the 2026 midterms?
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Chapter 5: Who are the Democratic standouts for the upcoming elections?
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What I try to do in the reported monologues is tell you stuff you're not going to hear other places. And when a big story like this, when all you've heard for several days now is about Venezuela. I got to look for my targets of opportunity.
Chapter 6: What insights does Jessica Reed Kraus offer on political culture?
So you're not just getting more of the same. So I've been talking to a lot of people about what's going on. And I've teased out two elements of this that I think are pretty important. And I hope you'll find pretty interesting. One involves Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
And one involves what's going on with the strategy here, not the tactics of grabbing Maduro or the threats about running the country or claims to be running the country. But what is the grand vision here that Team Trump, the president, are trying to execute?
So those are the two things I'm going to talk to you about, informed by a lot of conversations I've had with people involved in the national security apparatus, some on Capitol Hill and the administration, folks advising the administration. But first, I want to start with Marco Rubio.
Chapter 7: How does social media impact political narratives today?
Just an incredible story about a young guy who 10 years ago was basically at war with Donald Trump when he ran against him for president. And he goes from the very harsh relationship with Trump, mocking in both directions, which we'll look at in a minute, to now being really the top foreign policy figure in this administration.
Not since Henry Kissinger has someone had both the jobs of national security advisor and secretary of state in any administration. Secretary of state is really along with vice president. It's the plum job. It's the job that so many people want. And I can't tell you the number of very high level people over the years who said, I want secretary of state or nothing.
I will not take a job in the new government. I won't give up. my current life without getting that.
Chapter 8: What are the implications of AI in political campaigns?
So Rubio gets that job. But then also when the national security advisors forced out, Rubio is asked to take both positions. And he's now one of a half dozen people around the president who are in the room where it happens all the time. And on national security, Rubio is the dominant figure. And particularly on this Venezuela matter, he is a super dominant figure because
of his background, which I'll also talk about. But this story of how Rubio goes from being at war with Donald Trump a decade ago to being one of his most trusted and top advisors, it's an amazing one. And so what I ask people is, walk me through it. How did Rubio go from point A to point B? First, a reminder about point A. Marco Rubio ran for president against Donald Trump in 2016.
It was a very big field. And Trump one by one mowed folks down, both by beating them in primaries and caucuses, but also because he would challenge them in the debates. and in press conferences and whittled them down to size through insults, humiliation, all the things that you know Donald Trump does. Rubio, along with John Kasich, was effectively the last candidate standing against Trump.
And rather than do more of the same, which is when Trump would insult other candidates, they would try to turn the other cheek and they would say, oh, this is beneath the dignity of the office. Jeb Bush called Trump a chaos candidate, said he would be a chaos president. They tried to basically say, I'm not going to get in the gutter with Trump.
They followed Bill Clinton's famous adage, when you wrestle with pigs.
uh you get dirty and the pig likes it rubio at the end when it was clear that he was likely going to start losing a string of primaries and caucuses and be driven from the race uh decided to kind of go for broke and to um insult trump right back to see whether he could beat him at his own game so here's donald trump insulting a rubio uh famously uh calling him little marco uh that was the nickname he gave him this is s3 please
Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, little Marco.
Gentlemen, you ought to chill.
Gentlemen, you've got to do better than that. This guy has the number one absentee record in the United States.
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