Trump's Trials - All eyes are on Rubio as he navigates the world in 2 critical roles

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to discuss Venezuela's future, the first public testimony since the stunning capture of former President Nicolás Maduro. NPR's Franco Ordoñez reports.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. We're under invasion from within. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Every episode of Trump's terms, we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the 47th president.

With a focus on actions and policies he is pursuing on his own terms and in the process, taking the presidency into uncharted territory. Today's story starts right after this. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to face the Senate in a hearing Wednesday about Venezuela's future following the dramatic capture of former President Nicholas Maduro. At issue for some, whether Rubio, a longtime Venezuela hawk, has too much influence. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordornias has this story. This spring, President Trump asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take on yet another full-time role, managing the sprawling national security. apparatus, replacing Michael Walts, who had come under scrutiny for adding a reporter to a chat

discussing the U.S. military strike in Yemen. Marco Rubio, unbelievable. Unbelievable, Marco. When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets this solved. The National Security Advisor is supposed to help make sense of the different complexities facing the U.S. and guide the president toward making more measured choices. Rubio is the first person to hold both roles at the same time.

since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. It's no knock on Rubio personally. I'm not sure anybody, including Henry Kissinger, really has the bad width to do it. John Bolton served as Trump's National Security Advisor in the first administration. It's not only Venezuela that Rubio must deal with. It's also Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, and Greenland. And those are just the big issues. According to Bolton, Trump, and Rubio have made it harder by slashing the NSC.

and upending the process that's traditionally served as the hub for all different agencies, like the Department of State and Defense and Treasury. There's no guarantee that following the process will result in a successful policy, but the odds are you're going to have more success if you think about the pluses and minuses of the different options, weigh the consideration, and try and have some coherent plan you're following. The administration says its moves just made things more efficient. Bolton, of course, became a fierce critic after he was fired from the administration. And since then, Trump's Justice Department is prosecuting Bolton for allegedly mishandling classified info,

which he denies. Emily Horn served as NSE spokesperson in the Biden administration when the agency was more sprawling in size and scope. She says it's unclear how extensively they gamed out the way the Venezuela operation plays with adversaries and allies. despite the obvious careful military planning. However, that's a different thing than saying that we were bringing everything we could to both executing this operation and ensuring that we know what the day after or the week after and beyond look like. The White House and senior administration officials push back on such characterizations, pointing to Rubio's three-phase plan, which he's expected to detail further to members of Congress. A senior administration official not authorized to speak on the,

the record, said many want to jump straight to elections, but they're forgetting about the lessons of Iraq and the decades-long insurgency. The official also points to a more streamlined NSE that is laser-focused on executing the president's priorities, instead of serving as a policy-making apparatus competing with other agencies. Alexander Gray was chief of staff for the White House National Security Council in Trump's first term. He told NPR's Tamara Keith at a quote, honest broker is less necessary when you have a general meeting of the minds on the big issues. The benefit, so to speak, of a national security advisor who's also Secretary of State in terms of shaping the process is less significant when people are generally aligned.

Rubio is at the center of it all, and he's taken aim at the foreign policy apparatus, describing institutions like the NSC and State Department as ossified and out of touch. He expounded on that sentiment at the news conference following Maduro's capture. I can tell you, I've watched this process now for 14, 15 years, been around it. Everybody talks, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, when I get there, we're going to do this, we're going to take... This is a president of action. Like, I don't understand yet how they haven't figured this out. And Rubio says the message to the world is that this administration isn't going to let any kind of internal hemming and hauling stop the U.S.

And this president from making bold moves on the global stage. Franco or Donias, NPR News. Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow.

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