Rubio fires back at 'confused' CBS over questioning of Maduro

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the limited scope of a U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, calling questions about why more arrests weren't made "absurd."

Rubio, appearing Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," responded sharply to host Margaret Brennan after she questioned why the Trump administration left the rest of the regime intact.

Brennan noted that Rubio had described the regime as still in place and asked why the operation targeted only Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, rather than other indicted figures.

"I'm curious why the Trump administration decided to leave it intact and only arrest Nicolás Maduro and his wife," Brennan said.

Rubio replied: "You're confused? I don't know why that's confusing to you."

When Brennan pressed that other figures remained in power, Rubio said: "Yeah, but you’re going to go in and suck up five people? They are already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people."

He described the mission as highly complex, involving landing helicopters at Venezuela's largest military base, breaching Maduro's residence, detaining him and his wife, reading them their rights and extracting them without U.S. casualties.

"That's not an easy mission, and you're asking me why didn't we do that at five other places at the same time? I mean, that's absurd," Rubio added.

The operation, announced by President Donald Trump on Jan. 3, 2026, involved a large-scale U.S. military strike in Caracas that resulted in Maduro and Flores being taken into custody and transported to the United States. They face federal charges related to narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.

Brennan later reiterated her question about the limits of the military action, to which Rubio emphasized that Maduro, who claimed to be the country's legitimate leader, was the top priority.

The Trump administration has described the capture as a targeted law enforcement action against indicted individuals, supported by military forces, rather than a broader invasion or regime overthrow. Maduro was flown to New York to face charges in federal court.

--REAL AMERICA'S VOICE

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