Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the U.S. operation that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a joint press appearance with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, pushing back at a reporter who tried to drive a wedge between allies and praising the operation as necessary and effective.
The exchange came when a reporter asked about criticism from Slovakia and whether Rubio still stood by the operation. Rubio cut through the question and accused the reporter of trying to provoke a rift, framing the move as a sober choice made in America’s national interest. He made it clear that disagreement over a single action does not end longstanding partnerships between countries.
“I think you asked him a question in order to, like, see if you can get him against us, or something… A lot of countries didn’t like what we did in Venezuela. That’s okay. That was in our national interest,” Rubio said. He pushed back on the idea that diplomatic ties should collapse over a single operation and stressed that national interest drives tough decisions.
“I’m sure there’s something you may do one day that we don’t like, and we’ll say we didn’t like that you did this,” Rubio continued, while turning to Fico. “So what? That doesn’t mean we’re not going to be friends, we’re not going to be partners,” Rubio said. His tone was direct and unapologetic, the kind of clarity many conservatives expect from elected officials handling foreign threats.
Rubio emphasized that the operation was both successful and necessary because Maduro was tied to narcotics and terrorism in ways that threatened regional stability. He said offers were made and that the action delivered concrete results on the ground. That pragmatic framing underscored a view that enforcing law and protecting Americans sometimes requires decisive action abroad.
“And look what’s happened in Venezuela in the six weeks since he’s been gone,” Rubio said acknowledging that the country still has “a long way to go.” He conceded the road ahead is far from smooth but stressed the immediate change in opportunity for Venezuela’s future. The argument was that removing a narco-terrorist leader opened a window that simply did not exist a month and a half ago.
“There’s still much work that needs to be done, but I can tell you Venezuela is much better off today than it was six weeks ago. So we’re very proud of that project. And I know some will disagree … I think everyone can now agree that Venezuela has an opportunity at a new future that wasn’t there six weeks ago,” he added. Rubio used those lines to frame the operation as both moral and practical.
President Donald Trump also described the operation in blunt, forceful terms while honoring special operations personnel who carried it out. “It was in a matter of minutes before (Maduro) was on a helicopter being taken out of there. They had to go through steel doors,” Trump said Friday afternoon, highlighting the speed and precision the White House says defined the mission.
“The steels were like it was like paper-maché. You know what paper-maché is? That’s weak paper,” Trump added, using plain language to celebrate U.S. military ingenuity. He later praised the special forces for breaking through defenses and seizing the target before he could reach a secure safe, stressing that there were no U.S. casualties during the mission.
“These guys blasted through every door,” Trump continued Friday. “They got up to him before he got to the big safe. But that wouldn’t have worked either, because they had equipment that was going to knock that out in a matter of minutes, but he never got there. It went so fast.” That depiction reinforced the administration’s message of competent force applied with restraint.
Maduro and his wife were taken out and brought to the United States to face federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and weapons-related offenses. He is being held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City. The capture and legal process are now squarely in U.S. hands, with authorities pressing forward on the charges listed by federal prosecutors.
