Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, and prominent Republicans swiftly backpedaled from Donald Trump’s assertion that the US will run Venezuela in transition after US forces snatched the president, Nicolás Maduro, and brought him to the US to face federal criminal charges. The secretary of state was challenged repeatedly in a number of appearances to confirm whether the US would run Venezuela. Rubio said on ABC that the US had “leverage” over the country and that: “We expect that it’s going to lead to results here. Maduro was widely considered to have lost the 2024 presidential election in Venezuela, but stayed in power anyway. We want them to expel the Cubans and the Iranians and the Islamic radicals.”Congressman Jim Jordan, a Republican representing Ohio and the chairman of the House judiciary committee, also could not confirm that the US would run Venezuela.

Source: The Guardian January 04, 2026 21:59 UTC