Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Trump’s Venezuela operation during an interview on Sunday, saying the mission that captured Nicol\u00e1s Maduro didn’t require congressional approval.<\/b>
\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio defended the U.S. operation in Venezuela on Sunday as NBC News host Kristen Welker pressed him on why the administration didn’t seek congressional approval.
„White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that an attack on Venezuela\u2019s mainland would require approval from Congress“, Welker told Rubio on „Meet the Press.“ „Why didn\u2019t that happen? And will it happen with any future action the administration plans to take in Venezuela or elsewhere?“
The U.S. carried out a strike in Venezuela on Saturday and captured Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife as part of „Operation Absolute Resolve.“
„This was not an action that required congressional approval“, Rubio responded. „In fact, it couldn\u2019t require congressional approval because this was not an invasion. This is not an extended military operation. This is a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action. It was a very delicate operation, too. It was one that required all these conditions to be in place at the right time, in the right place.“
Rubio also said they couldn’t afford any potential leaks.
„You couldn\u2019t afford leaks. We couldn\u2019t afford anything out there that would have endangered the mission and gotten people killed, or killed off the mission in the optionality. We didn\u2019t even know if the mission was going to happen. How can you notify something you\u2019re not even sure if it can happen? Because in order for it to happen, you had needed to have weather conditions in place“, he added.
Welker pressed Rubio on whether the administration planned to work with Congress.
„Well, we will seek congressional approval for actions that require congressional approval, but otherwise they will get congressional notification“, Rubio told Welker. „And this is not an operation that requires congressional approval. In fact, this is an operation akin to what virtually every single president for the last 40 years has conducted. The difference is that when it\u2019s Donald Trump, you know, all these Democrats go bonkers.“
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States is „going to run the country“ in Venezuela until what he described as a „safe, proper and judicious transition“ can take place.
Trump framed the role as temporary but necessary, saying the U.S. does not want to allow „somebody else get in“ before conditions are stable. He said the goal is peace, liberty and justice for Venezuelans, including those who have fled to the United States and hope to return home.
„We\u2019re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition“, Trump said.<\/p>\n