Trump Admin Evasive About Exactly Who Will ‘Run’ Venezuela, What It Will Look Like

After attacking its capital city and abducting its leader, the self-described “most transparent administration in American history” declared this weekend that they’re going to “run” a foreign country with a population of roughly 30 million people, but can’t (or won’t) give a straight, detailed answer about what that even looks like as far as logistics or personnel (video above).

Asked if “we’re gonna see Americans on the corners of Venezuela” or “in the government of Venezuela,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Trump will “set the terms” and “dictate what’s next.”

Asked point blank “Who is in charge?” and ”Are you running Venezuela right now?” Secretary of State Marco Rubio complained that people keep “fixating on that” and pivoted to a speech about how they “expect to see changes in Venezuela.”

When pressed again – “Is it you? Is it Secretary Hegseth? Who are those people who will be running the country, specifically?” — he vaguely said that he is “involved” in “running policy,” and that the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Justice (DOJ) play “important roles,” without providing any real details about who from these organizations will “run” the country or what their specific roles will be.

Venezuela is over 1,000 miles away from the United States and larger than the states of Texas and Florida combined.

Trump during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday:

We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. So we don’t want to be involved with, uh, having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We’ve had decades of that. We’re not going to let that happen. We’re there now, and what people don’t understand but they understand as I, as I say this. We’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the pop- — proper transition can take place. So we’re gonna stay until such time as, we’re gonna run it, essentially, until such time as a proper transition can take place.

Hegseth on CBS Evening News later that day:

Q: There are questions about what happens next in Venezuela. The President said today that the U.S. is gonna be running the country. What does that look like? Does that mean we’re gonna see Americans on the corners of Venezuela? In the government of Venezuela? Are you prepared to have troops on the ground in Venezuela?

HEGSETH: Well it means we set the terms. President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately he’ll decide what the iterations are of that. But it means the drugs stop flowing. It means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately. And that criminals are not sent to the United States. It means that foreign countries don’t have a lodgment inside our hemisphere. So ultimately we’re gonna control what happens next due to this brave decision. President Trump has shown American leadership, and he’ll be able to dictate where we go next.

Rubio on Meet the Press with Kristen Welker on Sunday:

Q: Mr. Secretary, who is in charge? Are you running Venezuela right now?

RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, I keep – people, you know, fixating on that. Here’s the bottom line on it, is we expect to see changes in Venezuela. Changes of all kinds, long-term, short-term, we’d love to see all kinds of changes. But the most immediate changes are the ones that are in the national interest of the United States. That’s why we’re involved here because of how it applies, it has a direct impact on the United States. We are not going to be able to allow in our hemisphere a country that becomes a crossroads for the activities of all of our adversaries around the world. We just can’t allow it. We can’t have a country where the people in charge of its military and in charge of its police department are openly cooperating with drug trafficking organizations. We can’t. We’re not going to allow that. These things are direct threats to the United States. And we intend to use every element of leverage that we have to ensure that that changes. The one I would point everyone to is that our military is helping the Coast Guard conduct a law enforcement function which is not just the capture of Maduro, but the enforcement of our sanctions. We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize the boat. And we think this is tremendous leverage, incredible crippling leverage, which we intend to continue to use until we see the changes that we need to see that are benefit to the American people, and by the way we believe for the people of Venezuela as well.

Q: But Mr. Secretary, I think there’s a lot of questions about who the point people are during this transition. President Trump said, “We’re going to run the country.” So is it you? Is it Secretary Hegseth? Who are those people who will be running the country, specifically?

RUBIO: Well, it’s running policy, the policy with regards to this. 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. It either touches on something that’s a threat to our national security, or touches on something that’s either beneficial or harmful to our –

Q: And are you involved in that transition, Secretary?

RUBIO: And so obviously I’m very involved in this. Well, of course. I mean, I think everyone knows I’m pretty involved on politics in this hemisphere obviously as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, very involved in all these elements. The Department of War plays a very important role here along with the Department of Justice, for example, because they’re the ones that have to go to court. So this is a team effort by the entire national security apparatus of our country. But it is running this policy. And the goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States first and foremost, because that’s who we work for, but also we believe beneficial for the people of Venezuela who have suffered tremendously. We want a better future for Venezuela. And we think a better future for the people of Venezuela also is stabilizing for the region and makes the neighborhood we live in a much better and safer place.

Trump also said on Saturday that “very large U.S. oil companies” will “go in” to Venezuela and “spend billions of dollars” to increase output and profits.

When a reporter asked him whether it was “possible that the U.S. ends up administrating Venezuela for years,” Trump didn’t give a direct answer:

Well, ya know, it won’t cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial. So it’s not going to cost us anything. We’re going to be rebuilding, and we’re not spending money; the oil companies are gonna go in, they’re gonna spend money, we’re gonna take back the oil that frankly we should have taken back a long time ago. A lot of money is coming out of the ground. We’re gonna get reimbursed for all of that. We’re gonna get reimbursed for everything that we spend…