In the Act of Normalization

Secretary of State Rubio flees the question

The president has authority to launch a military strike —but not to be taken literally when he describes what comes next.

On the Sunday shows, Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced repeated questions regarding President Trump’s assertion that the United States will oversee Venezuelan operations following the recent raid that seized its leader. Speaking from Mar-a-Lago, the President stated, “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”

He further detailed a plan for U.S. oil companies to “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” emphasizing that the U.S. would effectively be “running” Venezuela “until such time as a proper transition can take place.”

He also offered a version of the same sentiment here, here and here.

On Meet the Press, moderator Kristen Welker pressed Rubio on that language (full transcript below):

KRISTEN WELKER:

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

SEC. MARCO RUBIO:

Yeah, I mean, I keep people, you know, fixating on that.

This is just the first sentence of the Secretary’s answer (full transcript below; footnote explains reason for truncation).¹ By using the word “fixating,” the Secretary suggests disproportionate attention to a single matter. In general that’s a reasonable critique. We get fixated on things in the press. A viewer might wonder why we’re fixated on this question. Here’s one possible explanation for why we’re fixated on the language:

By bombing Venezuela and capturing its leader, the president acted at the maximum extent of his powers. He and his aides said his authority was unilateral, based on Article II of the Constitution. He didn’t need to consult Congress. This is in keeping with a broad view of executive power in the Trump White House and the president’s lifelong habit of asking forgiveness rather than permission.

When you run an imperial presidency, especially one that bypasses Congress, people are going to pay attention to your words. The consequences are not small.

In this case, the press is looking for limits that going to Congress would have hashed out. Answers to questions like who exercises governing authority in Venezuela, what specific powers the united states is claiming after using military force to guide the actions in the country (which included the president threatening existing officials: The president told The Atlantic that Delcy Rodríguez needs to comply with U.S. wishes—or else. President Trump would very much like people to fixate on his words, to use the Secretary’s term.) Other questions: Where do the legal and practical boundaries of that authority end. This matters because when no one sets limits, wars get longer, more expensive, and land on taxpayers who never got a say.

The Secretary’s answer (again, full thing below) tries in a number of ways to minimize the words of the person whose authority is-- in the other context-- not to be questioned.

The Secretary never answers who is in charge. Instead, he dismisses the question as “fixating,” then shifts from authority to outcomes (“we expect to see changes”), spreads responsibility away from the president across “the entire national security apparatus,” and replaces questions about who has the right to wield power with descriptions of process (“we go to court, we get a warrant”). He also recasts the president’s claim that the U.S. would “run the country” as merely “running policy.” That distinction matters because “running policy” sounds mild, but when it includes seizing ships, enforcing sanctions with military backing, and applying what he calls “crippling leverage,” it looks a lot like running things without admitting it—or taking responsibility for the consequences.

The effect is to drain specificity from an extraordinary assertion and leave unanswered the basic question the press is asking: who is making decisions, and where U.S. power ends. And that’s why this isn’t a semantic quarrel. If a president says “we’re going to run the country” and his chief foreign policy official responds not by correcting the premise but by normalizing it, the scope of acceptable authority quietly expands—without a vote, a debate, or a declaration.

FULL EXCHANGE:

KRISTEN WELKER:

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

SEC. MARCO RUBIO:

Yeah, I mean, I keep people, you know, fixating on that. Here’s the bottom line on it. 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.

KRISTEN WELKER:

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?

SEC. MARCO 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 --

KRISTEN WELKER:

And are you involved in that transition, Secretary --

SEC. MARCO RUBIO:

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.

1. I am cutting off the quote for emphasis, but if you have time, you should read the entire answer. I’ve stopped at the first sentence, because I think it’s an important counter-weight to an effort to reframe the president’s clear and repeated language. Your interpretation might be different though after you read the whole thing! Also, you can judge whether the first sentence, which I’ve highlighted, is clearly meant to minimize or not. Keep in mind, the answer could have started with “No,” and then gone on to explain.