Watch: SecState Marco Rubio Outlines Venezuela's New Recovery Roadmap

In President Donald Trump's second term, there seem to be several people that the president relies on and trusts, and who really stand out as prime choices for the roles they play. Foremost among them, of course, is Vice President JD Vance, a committed, well-spoken, intelligent, and capable understudy to the president, with a compelling backstory and drive to spare. Another is Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who is doing great work reforming our military from the Biden-era jobs program for the neurotic to a band of warfighters. And, of course, there's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is so busy and is taking on so many roles that he has become a meme; but he's still out there, every day, landing rounds in the ten-ring.

In the latest example, Secretary of State Rubio, with Secretary of War Hegseth at his side, fielded questions from the media about the American intent for Venezuela, and as usual, he was in command of the conversation.

Secretary of State Breaks Down The Three Fold Process In Venezuela pic.twitter.com/Dx7Dfd4XC2
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) January 7, 2026

SecState Rubio said, following a barely audible question about Venezuela:

Well, there are a lot of operational details that can't be discussed publicly, for obvious reasons. So, as we move forward, we'll describe our process, which is a three-fold process to Venezuela. I've described it to them now. Step One is the stabilization of the country. We don't want it descending into chaos. Part of that stabilization, and the reason we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible, is our quarantine. As you've seen today, two more ships were seized. We are in the midst right now, and in fact are about to execute on a deal to take all the oil, they have oil that is stuck in Venezuela, they can't move it because of our quarantine and because it's sanctioned.
We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. We're going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people. Not corruption, not the regime. So we have a lot of leverage to move on the stabilization front.
The second phase will be a phase that we call recovery. And that is ensuring that American, western, and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a way that's fair, also at the same time, begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally, within Venezuela, so that the opposition forces can be amnestied and released from prisons, and brought back to the country, and begin to rebuild civil society.
And then the third phase, is of course will be one of transition. Some of this will overlap. I've described this to them (Venezuela) in great detail. We'll have more detail in the days to follow. But we feel like we're moving forward here in a very positive way.

That's a lot of detail for a plan that's just getting underway, and there are, as Secretary Rubio points out, aspects of the plan that we won't know about until after the fact. That's nothing surprising; in such affairs, there are always matters that can't be discussed openly until the details are worked out.

Trump Puts Venezuela Over a Barrel With New Move on China, Russia, Seizure of Sanctioned Tankers

But here is where SecState really showed his chops when it comes to dealing with the media and the claims of Democrats:

Secretary of State SHUTS DOWN Demsocrats: We're Not Winging It On Venezuela

Marco Rubio: "I used to be a Senator too. That's what you always say when it's the other party... It's not just winging it... It's already happening." https://t.co/cKzhgF2Uyk pic.twitter.com/cLJqtgKVJz
— Mr Producer (@RichSementa) January 7, 2026

The question:

Some Senators were (inaudible) describing your operation variously, as in you're winging it, there's no plan for Venezuela going forward.

SecState replied:

Yeah, they're going to say that. I used to be a Senator too, that's what you always say when it's the other party. Bottom line is, we've gone into great detail with them about the planning, we've described it to them. In fact, it's not just winging it. It's not just saying, or speculating that it's going to happen - it's already happening. The oil arrangement we've made with PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the Venezuelan state oil company) on sanctioned oil that they can't move. Understand they are not generating any revenue from their oil right now. They can't move it unless we allow it to move.
Because we have sanctions, we're enforcing those sanctions. This is tremendous leverage. We're exercising it in a positive way. The president described it last night. Secretary (of Energy) Wright will have more to say on it today, who is involved in running this portfolio. And we feel very positive that not only will that generate revenue that will be used to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, and we're assured that that's what the case is, but it also gives us an amount of leverage and influence and control over how this process moves forward.

So, yes, there's a plan. If I were to offer one caution to the Trump administration, it would be one of the infamous soldiers' compendium of advice, "Murphy's Laws of Combat": No plan survives first contact. But the plan is out there, it appears to be solid, and it appears that the Venezuelan people, not just a cabal of illegitimate despots, will benefit from the plan. And note that question: Some Democrats claim the Trump administration is "winging it." Horse squeeze. There's the plan. He just described it. Criticize the plan if you like, but nobody can claim that there isn't a plan. Secretary Rubio slammed that assertion right back at the Democrats, and it was well done.

I hope Mr. Rubio is getting enough sleep right now. It's a safe bet that, in the coming weeks, he's going to need it.

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.

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