Campaigning in New Hampshire, where the strength of his presidential bid will be put to the test again in Tuesday’s primary, the young Florida senator offered a danger-riven view of the world followed by a familiar sounding solution: launch a “real war on terror”.

In a packed gymnasium, Mr Rubio warned his audience of nuclear weapons possessed by the “lunatic” dictator in North Korea; of a China that was “stealing” American inventions and “blowing up” the country’s satellites; of a Russia hell-bent on seizing world power; an Iran that was “sponsoring terrorism”; and the “apocalyptic” attacks from the jihadists of Isil.

“When I am president we are going to have a ‘real war on terror’,” he promised his audience. “The best intelligence agencies in the world are gonna tell us where the terrorists are. The best military in the world will destroy them.”

“And if we capture any of these terrorists alive,” he continued. “They are not going to have the right to remain silent; they are not going to getting a court hearing in Manhattan; they are going straight to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”