Marco Rubio’s meme fame becomes White House birthday gift PHOTO

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has three official roles in the Trump administration and an unofficial fourth: viral meme star.

For Rubio’s 55th birthday on May 28, White House staffers and President Donald Trump gave him a gold-framed collage featuring 68 of their favourite “Rubio Realising” memes, according to Axios. A photo of the gift went viral Wednesday after Axios reporter Marc Caputo posted it on X.

The memes, which have circulated for about 18 months, typically portray Rubio reacting to being handed yet another government job or crisis. They have depicted him as a Kiss band member, a samurai and a “Bachelorette” contestant, reflecting his roles as secretary of state, national security adviser and chairman of the U.S. bid for the 2035 World Expo.

The memes originated with a photograph taken during a tense Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28, 2025, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance sharply rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the war with Russia. Rubio sat upright on a couch during the confrontation without engaging.

The image has since helped create a more favorable public image of Rubio, according to Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, who regularly conducts voter focus groups.

“It's one of the first times a politician has been memed into more positive territory,” Longwell said recently on the “Press Box” podcast.

“The idea that Marco Rubio is the adult in the room sort of comes from this idea that you give him every job,” she said. “More and more, what you're seeing from voters is the idea that he seems he knows what he's doing. He seems like a serious person. He seems like a grownup.”

Rubio has accumulated several temporary responsibilities during Trump’s second term. Trump previously appointed him national archivist and administrator of USAID, although both assignments have expired.

Rubio has also embraced the running joke. During a speech in May, he joked about wanting additional positions, including surgeon general.

“I wanted it. You get a uniform,” he said. “Library of Congress — that would be a good job.”

Rubio has said he does not plan to run for president in 2028 and would endorse Vance if the vice president runs. Trump wants Vance to choose Rubio as his running mate, although the two have not seriously discussed the 2028 race, sources told Axios.

Rubio has acknowledged that he initially hated the photograph that became the basis for the memes. Earlier this month, he told Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump” that his posture was partly caused by the couch.

“What happened is in that couch, if you don't have a pillow behind your back, you kind of sink,” he said. “So I looked at the pictures, I was like, this is terrible.”

“... And then it turned into this other thing, and it was fine and it's funny,” Rubio added. “I don't really follow it very closely. But people have shown me pictures out there.”

By Tamilla Hasanova