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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday insisted that the Trump administration has not needed congressional approval for the strikes on boats in the Caribbean that were allegedly smuggling drugs into the U.S.
Rubio told reporters at his year-end press conference that he would not speculate "about things that haven't happened and may never happen," but that "to this point, nothing has happened that requires us to notify Congress or get congressional approval or cross the threshold into war."
Why It Matters
The Trump administration over the past few months has continued to escalate its rhetoric and actions towards Venezuela, starting with strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, and culminating with the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of the South American nation.
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President Donald Trump then ordered a blockade on Venezuela's oil tankers, as he alleged that Venezuela uses oil revenues to fund drug trafficking and crime. Trump pledged to continue adding pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro until his government hands over "oil, land, and assets" he claims have been stolen from the United States.
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What To Know
Rubio covered a range of topics, but reporters continued to circle back to the boat strikes, particularly the legality of the strikes and the mixed messaging it presented as Rubio stressed the administration's goal to make the U.S. the mediator of peace around the world, following the president's peace deals agreed to over the past 11 months.
He defended the administration's approach and stressed that the strikes fall under the administration's purview to defend national security and ramp up pressure on Maduro.
"We are presenting every single one of these as justified," Rubio said. "We know who is on those boats, we've been tracking them from the very beginning. We know everything about them, OK?"
"There are boat strikes that we don't take because they don't meet the legal criteria," Rubio said. "We have everything we need, and it's one of the reasons you've seen this massive deployment in the region, is to be able to gather intelligence and paint a picture that we can justify to lawyers, based on the law. I'm very confident about that effort, it's been very successful."
Rubio repeatedly sidestepped questions about regime change in Venezuela, saying only that the Maduro government is an "illegitimate" regime "that cooperates with Iran, that cooperates with Hezbollah, that cooperates with narco-trafficking and narco-terrorist organizations."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump, this week on Truth Social, in part: "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us. The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping. For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela."
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, on X: "NO ONE in America wants a war with Venezuela or China except Trump [bc it might distract people from Epstein or high costs], reckless war hawks like Rubio and Hegseth, and the military industry [war is profit]. But we are closer than you think."
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters this week: "If it were about drugs, we'd bomb Mexico or China or Colombia. This is about oil and regime change."
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
Update 12/19/25, 3:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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