Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on ABC's This Week that U.S. naval forces positioned off Venezuela can seize sanctioned ships carrying oil in or out of the country using court orders, in an interview aired this morning and shared between 3:15 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. UTC on January 4, 2026. Rubio also said the U.S. does not view Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez as Venezuela's legitimate president, with legitimacy requiring a transition and real elections. Rubio described the operations during the 29-minute reporting window, noting an "armada of boats" allows the U.S. to "pick and choose which ones we go after," according to ABC News posts. This follows the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier today, with Rubio appointed to lead interim U.S. governance of Venezuela, as previously reported by Bloomberg. In a separate CBS Face the Nation interview this morning, the full transcript was shared via X during this period. Axios reported Rubio is tasked with preventing chaos after President Donald Trump's operation against Maduro, citing a January 4 article. Former Trump Venezuela envoy Elliott Abrams stated the U.S. cannot run Venezuela and criticized Trump's press conference for insulting opposition leader MarĂa Corina Machado, per an X post by @mkraju in the past 29 minutes. Abrams also said it is not legal for the U.S. to take Venezuela's oil. Attorney General William Barr expressed high confidence that Maduro will be convicted, according to The Hill. Senior reporter Aaron Katersky reported from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center on charges against Maduro, as posted by ABC News.
