On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio wandered into the lion's den, speaking with ABC News' This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos about the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and what will be happening in Venezuela next. And, as you might expect, one of the primary questions asked of SecState had to do with Venezuela's oil reserves.
Let's look at some highlights. First, on the sanctions still in place on Venezuelan oil.
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
The post concludes:
...and we can pick and choose which ones we go after. We have court orders for each one.
The first question asked, though, was "Is the United States running Venezuela right now?" Secretary Rubio replied:
Well, I've explained, once again, I'll do it one more time. What we are running, is the direction this is going to move moving forward. And that is, we have leverage. This leverage we are using, and we intend to use it. We started using (it) already. You can see where they are running out of storage capacity. In a few weeks, they're going to have to stop pumping oil unless they make changes. And that leverage we have with 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.
Venezuela has some of, if not the largest, oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere. It's not the best quality of oil, but there's a lot of it, and the Trump administration clearly has been and will continue to place pressure on what remains of Maduro's illegal regime by continuing the sanctions on oil shipments.
On the possibility of American oil companies operating in Venezuela, Secretary Rubio sounded an optimistic tone:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on if any U.S. oil companies have committed to work in Venezuela: “We're pretty certain that there will be dramatic interest from Western companies, non-Russian, non-Chinese companies will be very interested.” https://t.co/VlkMjgXj0k pic.twitter.com/ByvKuvrK5q
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 4, 2026
When asked about Venezuela's oil, Secretary Rubio responded:
Well, ultimately, this isn't about securing (Venezuela's) oil fields. This is about ensuring that no sanctioned oil can come in and out until they make changes to the governance of that entire industry. Because, right now, that industry is non-existent in the traditional way. These oil fields, basically, are pirate operations. People literally steal the oil from the ground; they have, that's how they hold this regime together. A handful of cronies benefit from this oil.
The secretary went on to describe the state of Venezuela's oil fields: Producing at less than 20 percent capacity, old and failing equipment, and rampant cronyism sucking up what money the fields manage to produce. He notes that any American oil companies, or, interestingly, any "non-Russian, non-Chinese" companies would be interested in working in Venezuela. That's an interesting side note; it indicates that the Trump administration is going to try to freeze Russia and China out of this strategic resource.
Read More: Let's Take a Closer Look at That Maduro Indictment
Vice President Vance Has a Timely 'PSA' for Dems Melting Down Over 'Illegal' Venezuela Op
Next, Secretary Rubio was asked about any possible succession in Venezuela; he was quick to point out that nobody in Maduro's illegal and illegitimate regime could be a legal or legitimate successor. Here, the old caution about the fruit of a poison tree applies.
When asked if the U.S. views Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez as the legitimate president, Sec. Rubio said: “Ultimately, legitimacy for their system of government will come about through a period of transition and real elections which they have not had.” https://t.co/F2n72YzssB pic.twitter.com/yqxw07Jn6n
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 4, 2026
Secretary Rubio said:
Well, this is not about a legitimate president. We don't believe that this regime in place is legitimate via an election. And that's not just us. It's 60-some countries around the world that have taken that view as well, including the European Union. But we understand that there are people in Venezuela that, today, who are the ones that can actually make changes. For example, when we want to send in the migrant flights, even though we never recognized the Maduro regime as legitimate, we had to deal with the authorities that controlled the airports.
Finally, Secretary Rubio lays out a truth bomb when asked why the administration didn't notify Congress ahead of the operation:
Sec. Rubio responds to criticism of the lack of congressional authorization in the U.S. operation in Venezuela: “You can't congressionally notify something like this for two reasons. Number one, it will leak. It's as simple as that. And number two, it's an exigent circumstance.” pic.twitter.com/qIBPiRuDYk
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 4, 2026
"Exigent circumstances," according to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, are:
...circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to believe that entry (or other relevant prompt action) was necessary to prevent physical harm to the officers or other persons, the destruction of relevant evidence, the escape of the suspect, or some other consequence improperly frustrating legitimate law enforcement efforts.
The argument about this being an exigent circumstance will no doubt be fought over for some time to come, but the real kicker here is Secretary Rubio's hard-hitting candor where Congress is concerned, and he's absolutely right: It would have leaked. Congress is leakier than a rubber rain slicker that's just been dragged over a pile of broken glass and then through a barbed wire factory. If they had been notified, the legacy media would have known about it within 24 hours, they would have blasted it all over the airwaves and the internet, and when U.S. forces went into Caracas, they would have come back with an empty sack.
One key takeaway: This whole thing with Venezuela didn't end with the removal of the illegal dictator Maduro. There's a lot of work to be done to re-establish a legitimate government there, and Secretary Rubio seems to have a pretty good bead on what needs doing.
Of course, from the looks of him, we can hope he gets one or two good nights' sleep before diving back in.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member