It Remains Unclear Who's Running Venezuela-and Who's Actually Running U.S. Foreign Policy

"At his Saturday press conference, where he announced the nabbing of Maduro, President Donald Trump said-to widespread astonishment-that the United States will soon "run," or even is now "running," Venezuela. The next morning, on NBC's Meet the Press, in an only slightly less baffling moment, Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state and national security adviser, backpedaled on his boss' claim. Asked whether the U.S. will really run Venezuela, Rubio replied, "Yeah, I keep [seeing] people fixating on that.""

"First, there should be no mystery why people are "fixating" on Trump's claim. It's because, in the course of his Saturday press conference, the president said 12 times that he and a group of his choosing, including Rubio himself, would "run" Venezuela. Second, there is a distinction between running a foreign country and influencing its direction, even when this influence stems from a U.S. naval armada that remains off Venezuelan shores"

U.S. military action forced Nicolás Maduro out of power and into a New York courthouse. President Donald Trump repeatedly said the United States will "run," or is "running," Venezuela. On Meet the Press, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio backpedaled, saying the United States will run policy rather than the country and expects changes that would benefit Venezuelans and U.S. interests. Trump said 12 times during the press conference that he and a group including Rubio would "run" Venezuela, which explains why observers fixated on his claim. A distinction exists between running a country and influencing its direction, even when influence comes from a naval armada and threats of additional troop deployments. The unresolved question is which actor truly runs American foreign policy: the president or his chief foreign-policy adviser.

Read at Slate Magazine