Not so long ago, Senator Marco Rubio was seen as the shining future of the G.O.P.: a staunch, national-security-minded conservative who was young, charismatic, and a popular Latino politician in a crucial swing state. That was before Donald Trump’s instinct for insult rendered him “Little Marco.”  

Since the election of 2016, Rubio—like many traditional conservatives—has been weighing what it means to be a Republican in the age of Trump. Rubio spoke with the newyorker.com columnist Susan B. Glasser about the threat of China and the future of his party. “We’re modernizing,” Rubio tells her. “Just like every couple weeks I get an update that there’s a software update on my phone that I should download. I think we have to update it, because there’s new ideas and new realities.” “Do you always update those?” Glasser wonders. “Generally,” Rubio replies. “Depends what the fix is.”