Rubio quarterbacks Venezuela and other major Trump actions
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become a central point person for President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, as the administration faces multiple crises and seeks to turn sweeping statements into operational plans. As Trump’s team navigates particularly turbulent developments in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America, Rubio’s role has been described by lawmakers and aides as a steadying influence within a wide-ranging foreign policy agenda.
Rubio’s public profile has grown alongside the administration’s actions involving Venezuela, including the operation that captured then-ousted former President Nicolás Maduro. The Associated Press reported that Rubio has served as both secretary of state and national security adviser, and has worked to “tone[] down bombastic remarks” from Trump and other top officials while still defending the administration’s more audacious plans.
When asked by reporters this week about a military option referenced in connection with Greenland, Rubio said: “We always prefer to settle it in different ways,” adding: “That included in Venezuela. We tried repeatedly to reach an outcome here that did not involve having to go in and grab an indicted drug trafficker.” The remarks were framed as an effort to connect the administration’s approach in Venezuela to its stated preference for alternatives before any use of force.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, a longtime friend of Rubio, linked Rubio’s influence to the administration’s direction in Latin America. Risch told AP that “all of us have been feeling that we can do a lot better in Latin America than we’ve been doing,” and that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” describing Rubio as the adviser whose urgency and focus pushed action.
Aides described Rubio’s dual role as “quarterbacking” teams within Trump’s broader foreign policy apparatus. One top aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, compared Rubio to a senior traffic cop directing a “small but influential field” of advisers, including translating the president’s “broad and vague pronouncements into digestible” guidance. The aide said the Venezuela team includes deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Vice President JD Vance, while fragile U.S.-led peace efforts in Gaza and Ukraine are coordinated through Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised Rubio’s work advancing Trump’s goals, saying he “is a team player and everyone loves working with him in the West Wing.” People around Rubio have also described him as well-suited for the moment, with Risch saying Rubio often jokes about being a “really good archivist” because he also serves as interim leader of the National Archives and Records Administration. Rubio himself posted on social media Thursday that his “focus must remain on global events and also the precious archives of the United States of America,” dismissing “online rumors” that he might seek a Dolphins-related coaching or general manager role.
Following the raid to extract Maduro from Caracas, Trump publicly said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela, but offered few details about what that would entail, leaving concerns about whether the administration planned something like an Iraq or Afghanistan-style occupation. Rubio stepped in to address those anxieties, saying the U.S. would not govern day-to-day, but would use leverage including oil sanctions and the threat of additional military action to influence Venezuelan leaders.
Rubio has also worked to temper language about Greenland. He told reporters that Trump’s plan is “not to invade the island controlled by NATO ally Denmark but rather purchase it,” and said, “That’s always been the president’s intent from the very beginning,” in remarks reported by AP on Wednesday.
Rubio’s role has extended into Congress, where lawmakers have pressed for explanations of the administration’s actions and what comes next. While Pentagon leaders presented details about the raid, Rubio took up questions and criticism during closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who has known Rubio for years, said: “Rubio’s a person who just solves problems,” and added: “There’s a reason the president relies on him for so many different things.”
Rubio publicly outlined the administration’s Venezuela plan as three phases: selling seized Venezuelan oil for revenue to rebuild the country; restoring other parts of civil society; and transitioning to a new government. AP reported that Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, has taken over as interim president with America’s blessing. At the same time, the strategy is drawing pressure in Washington, with lawmakers from both parties demanding more detail about the path ahead. Democrats in particular want public oversight hearings and a fuller debate, including on how support will be sustained for any military action.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat, said in remarks to AP that on Venezuela “Secretary Rubio knows better about what briefings and consultations and engagement with the senators needs to happen to get and sustain bipartisan support for military action,” and that he was “disappointed that that hasn’t happened.” Republicans are also pressing for timely answers, with Rep. Carlos Gimenez, another Florida Republican, saying: “It’s not years, it’s months,” adding: “Six, nine months.”
Rubio’s focus on Venezuela has also been tied to his political and family history, AP said. Rubio’s Cuban-born parents arrived in South Florida in 1956 before Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, and Rubio has spent much of his life in Miami, where many Cubans fled after Castro’s rise. AP reported that criticism of Castro and other leftist leaders in the region helped Rubio gain support from Venezuelan diaspora communities in Florida seeking to escape crime and economic hardship under Maduro and former President Hugo Chávez.
After Trump defeated Rubio in the 2016 GOP primary, AP reported that Rubio began exerting influence over U.S. policy toward Latin America as a shadow adviser, and that the working relationship between Rubio and Trump later surprised some observers given Trump’s “America First” approach and campaign promise to avoid new foreign wars. In the AP report, the rivalry-turned-partnership is framed as converging now, with Trump described as echoing rhetoric Rubio used on Venezuela years earlier.