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Post Reports

Marco Rubio, the Viceroy of Venezuela

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.45.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held many titles during Donald Trump’s presidency. He may have just acquired his most challenging one yet: viceroy of Venezuela.

The national security adviser, acting archivist and administrator of the now-defunct U.S. Agency for International Development was central to masterminding the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday. And with no immediate successor to govern the country of roughly 29 million, Trump is leaning on Rubio to help “run” Venezuela, divvy up its oil assets and usher in a new government, a fraught and daunting task for someone with so many other responsibilities.

Today on “Post Reports,” State Department reporter John Hudson explains how Rubio has become so influential, and what that could mean for Venezuela’s future

Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy, with help from Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sam Bair.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, I'm Susan Glasser.

0:01.7

I'm Jane Mayer.

0:02.5

And I'm Evan Osmos, and we host the Washington Roundtable from the New Yorker's political scene podcast.

0:08.2

For me, this is the water cooler.

0:11.3

This is a wonderful chance to sit down with two of the smartest colleagues in the country

0:16.8

and, you know, just kind of compare notes.

0:19.4

No, that's so true because, first of all, we are actually friends in real life,

0:23.7

but I can't wait until Fridays to hear what you guys think.

0:27.0

Everybody sees the headlines, but you guys fill in the gaps.

0:30.7

I also think, though, occasionally we get somebody to come on, and I'm always smarter for it.

0:34.7

If you get a great historian who can tell you about a presidential election 50, 60 years ago, often it can help you understand about what's happening today.

0:42.0

So if you're looking for weekly insights into what's going on inside the Beltway,

0:47.8

please join us every Friday on the Washington Roundtable, part of the New Yorkers Political

0:52.6

Scene podcast.

1:02.1

Marco Rubio has worn many hats in this administration.

1:04.2

He's the Secretary of State.

1:07.4

He's the President's acting national security advisor.

1:10.8

He's the acting archivist of the United States.

1:14.5

And now he's also the viceroy of Venezuela.

1:18.6

John, I didn't even know vice roy was a thing.

1:20.5

Like, what is a viceroy?

1:23.9

And like, how did we end up having one?

...

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