Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified during a Sunday morning interview that President Donald Trump’s plans to “run” Venezuela centered on a pressure campaign to effect positive policy changes, not direct control of the government or American boots on the ground.

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.”

The Secretary of State made a similar statement in NBC’s “Meet the Press,” telling host Kristen Welker that the United States was using leverage to effect policy changes, not taking control go the nation’s government.

“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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.@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

For those who accuse the Trump administration of expansionist ambitions because of the attack on Venezuela that achieved the extradition of the tyrannical dictator and faux president Nicolás Maduro, it would be instructive to remember who the real expansionist was: Maduro.

Maduro had designs on the Essequibo region — an oil-resource-rich territory in Guyana — which comprises two-thirds of Guyana’s territory. Despite a long-standing status quo, Maduro had laid claim to the region following the discovery of massive offshore oil deposits by an ExxonMobil-led consortium.

"Trump's capture of Maduro is IMPERIALISM! How dare he!"

Maduro tried to annex something like 3/4s of the neighboring country of Guyana just last year because oil was discovered offshore. But please tell me more about the horrors of imperialism pic.twitter.com/aGSkOscmc9

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) January 4, 2026

In 2023, Maduro accused Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali of “hypocrisy and false victimization,” adding, “President Irfaan Ali, enough of lies and of trying to hide the historical truth that weighs on the dispute over the Essequibo territory, whose only means of resolution, as you well know, is the Geneva Agreement of 1966. The steps your government is taking violate international legality and jeopardize peace in the region.”

That was a lie; the 1966 Geneva Agreement stated that if Venezuela and Guyana did not resolve the issue, “they shall refer the decision as to the means of settlement to an appropriate international organ upon which they both agree or, failing agreement on this point, to the secretary-general of the United Nations.”

Guyana did exactly that, as the Voice of America reported.

Maduro’s strategy included referendums and legislative moves aimed at the “defense” of Essequibo, which international bodies like the OAS and CARICOM labeled illegal and a “crime of aggression.” In addition, Venezuelan naval vessels entered disputed waters near ExxonMobil’s operations.

In response to these expansionist moves, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued explicit, high-stakes warnings to the Venezuelan “narco-trafficking regime.” In March 2025, on a Caribbean tour to strengthen ties and promote energy independence, he stated that aggressive action by Venezuela “would be a very bad day for Venezuela,” emphasizing consequences for “adventurism” and aggression.

Rubio’s strategy included:

Military Cooperation: Signing security agreements to enhance intelligence sharing and conducting joint naval exercises between the U.S. Navy and Guyana. Economic Pressure: Implementing severe sanctions and tariffs on countries that imported Venezuelan oil, aiming to dismantle the regime’s financial lifeblood. Strategic Alliances: Promoting Guyana as a key partner to wean the Caribbean off Venezuelan energy, effectively neutralizing Maduro’s regional influence.

Meanwhile, Maduro’s then-vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, maintained that Venezuela would never cede its claim.