Rubio Walks Back Trump’s Claim That U.S. Will Run Venezuela

Rubio’s remarks on TV talk shows appeared designed to ease concerns that ambitious actions to achieve regime change in Venezuela could lead the United States into another prolonged foreign intervention or failed nation-building effort. These contrasted with Trump’s broad but vague claims that the United States would at least temporarily “rule” the oil-rich country; These were comments that suggested some kind of governance structure in which Caracas would be controlled by Washington.

Rubio took a more nuanced approach, saying the United States would continue to enforce the oil quarantine already in place on tankers sanctioned before Maduro’s ouster early Saturday and use that pressure as a tool to make policy changes in Venezuela.

“And that’s the kind of control the president was pointing to when he said that,” Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We are continuing the lockdown and expect to see changes not only in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the public, but also in stopping drug trafficking.”

“The blockade of sanctioned oil tankers—some of which have been seized by the United States—is still in place, and that is a tremendous amount of pressure that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not only advance the primary national interest of the United States, but also lead to a better future for the Venezuelan people,” he added.

Leaders in Venezuela have so far pushed back, at least publicly, by calling on the Trump administration to release Maduro.

Even before the operation that captured Maduro, experts were questioning the legality of some aspects of the administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuela, including the deadly bombing of boats accused of drug smuggling that some scholars say tested the limits of international law.

Trump repeated his promise that the United States would govern Venezuela. Trump’s promise to “rule” Venezuela, which he repeated more than half a dozen times at a press conference in Florida on Saturday, raised concerns among some Democrats. The situation has also upset some segments of his own Republican coalition, including the “America First” base that opposes foreign intervention, and observers who recall past nation-building efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rubio rejected such criticism, saying Trump’s intentions were misunderstood.

“The entire foreign policy apparatus thinks everything is Libya, everything is Iraq, everything is Afghanistan,” Rubio said. “This is not the Middle East. Our mission here is also very different. This is the Western Hemisphere.”

Rubio also claimed that the United States would give Maduro’s subordinates time to govern the country and said, “We will evaluate everything according to what they do.” While Rubio did not rule out the possibility of landing in Venezuela, he said the United States, which has strengthened its presence in the region, already has the capacity to stop drug ships and sanctioned tankers.

A day earlier, Trump had told reporters: “We will govern until we can make a safe, appropriate and sensible transition.” He then pointed to his national security team, including Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and said it would be done for a while by “the people standing right behind me. We’ll make it work, we’ll bring it back.”

The White House declined to comment beyond what Trump said on Saturday.

Maduro’s arrival Maduro landed at a small airport in New York’s northern suburbs on Saturday afternoon following a midnight operation that removed him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home on a military base in the capital Caracas – an action Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple is accused of participating in a US narco-terrorist plot.

Maduro’s dramatic takeover capped the Trump administration’s intense pressure campaign against Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, culminating in America’s most ambitious action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the legality of the operation carried out without congressional approval.

Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, demanded that the United States release Maduro and called him the country’s true leader because his country’s supreme court named Maduro as interim president. So did the country’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, who said on Sunday that the country’s armed forces “categorically reject the cowardly kidnapping” and “will preserve internal order and peace.”

Maduro will make his first appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday.

Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in 2020, and the Justice Department on Saturday unsealed a new indictment against Maduro and his wife, painting his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug trafficking operation that flooded the United States with cocaine. The US government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

The Trump administration spent months establishing American forces in the region and launching attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying drugs.

Quiet decline in Venezuela after US operation The Venezuelan government continued to work as usual over the weekend as ministers remained in their duties.

The capital was unusually quiet on Sunday; There were few vehicles driving around, and grocery stores, gas stations and other businesses were closed.

Maduro’s son, lawmaker Nicolás Ernesto Guerra, has not appeared in public since the attack. On Saturday, he posted a government statement on Instagram denying the capture of his father and stepmother.

The country’s newly formed National Assembly will be sworn in at the legislative palace in Caracas. The unicameral parliament will remain under the control of the ruling party.

According to Venezuelan law, Rodriguez would take over from Maduro. But Rodríguez insisted on state television on Saturday that he did not plan to take power before Venezuela’s supreme court ruled that he would take over the interim role. Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday that Rodríguez “could pay a very big price” if he doesn’t do what he thinks is right for Venezuela.

That contrasted with the Republican president’s comments about Rodríguez on Saturday, when he said Rubio had spoken to him and said the United States was willing to do what he thought were necessary to improve the standard of living in Venezuela.

Trump said in an interview with the New York Post on Saturday that the United States would not need to deploy troops to Venezuela “if they do what we want.”