Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday clarified President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States will “run” Venezuela, stressing that it will not involve seizing control of the government or deploying American troops.
Rubio spoke with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week,” where he clarified some of the statements Trump made after Saturday’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro — in particular his claim that the United States would “run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
WATCH:
Sec. Rubio on how the U.S. is currently operating in Venezuela: “The armada of boats that are currently positioned allow us to seize any sanctioned boats coming into or out of Venezuela, loaded with oil or on its way in to pick up oil, and we can pick and choose which ones we go… pic.twitter.com/TSAhCujoi6
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 4, 2026
“So is the United States running Venezuela right now?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“What we are running is the direction that this is going to move moving forward,” Rubio replied. “We have leverage. This leverage we are using — and we intend to use, and we have started using already.”
“The armada of boats that are currently positioned allow us to seize any sanctioned boats coming into or out of Venezuela, loaded with oil or on its way in to pick up oil, and we can pick and choose which ones we go after. We have court orders for each one,” he added.
While Rubio assured Stephanopoulos that the United States would keep all options on the table — including additional military action, should the Trump administration deem it necessary — he said that the goal was to bring Venezuela around using sanctions and the leverage that came with them.
“What’s going to happen here is we have a quarantine on their oil. That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met, and that’s what we intend to do,” Rubio explained. “That leverage remains, that leverage is ongoing and we expect that it’s going to lead to results here.”
Rubio made a similar statement on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” telling host Kristen Welker that the United States was using leverage to effect policy changes, not taking control of the nation’s government.
WATCH:
.@SecRubio on “running” Venezuela: “It’s running POLICY… We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it’s good for the people of Venezuela, it’s in our national interest.” pic.twitter.com/Y3oA2YNiar
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026
“It’s running POLICY,” he said. “We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it’s good for the people of Venezuela, it’s in our national interest.”
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