The media couldn't wait to attack Trump's bold move in Venezuela.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent Sunday dismantling their talking points one by one.
And Marco Rubio exposed Margaret Brennan's absurd question with one devastating response.
CBS tried to turn a military triumph into a scandal
President Trump ordered the most daring military operation since World War II when Delta Force captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from his military base in Caracas early Saturday morning.
In three minutes, American forces kicked down his door, arrested him along with his wife Cilia Flores, and flew them out of the country without losing a single American life.¹
Trump watched the entire operation unfold in real-time from Mar-a-Lago alongside military generals.
"If you would have seen what happened, I mean, I watched it literally, like I was watching a television show," Trump told Fox News. "If you would have seen the speed, the violence… it was an amazing thing, amazing job that these people did. There's nobody else could have done anything like it."²
But CBS host Margaret Brennan wanted viewers to think Trump failed because he didn't arrest five other Venezuelan officials at the same time.
"I'm curious why the Trump administration decided to leave it intact and only arrest Nicolas Maduro and his wife," Brennan complained on Face the Nation. "The person who controls the police, the chief thug, Diosdado Cabello, is the interior minister. He's been indicted by the United States. He's a $25 million bounty on his head. He's still in place. The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place."³
Brennan genuinely thought she had Secretary Rubio cornered with this gotcha question.
She was dead wrong.
Rubio destroyed CBS with one word: absurd
Rubio looked at Brennan like she'd lost her mind.
"You're confused? I don't know why that's confusing to you," Rubio shot back. "I mean, it's very simple. You're not going to go in and suck up five people? They're 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."⁴
Brennan tried interrupting but Rubio wasn't finished.
"It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country, the guy lived on a military base, land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets," Rubio explained.⁵
Then came the knockout punch.
"That's not an easy mission. And you're asking me, why didn't we do that in five other places at the same time? I mean, that's absurd," Rubio said.⁶
Rubio exposed the media's ignorance about Venezuela
Rubio didn't stop there.
On NBC's Meet the Press, he torched the so-called experts second-guessing Trump's Venezuela strategy.
"I watch these experts and it's clown hour, okay?" Rubio stated. "These are people that have focused their entire career on the Middle East or some other part of the world because that's where the action was. Very few of them know anything about Venezuela or the Western Hemisphere."⁷
Rubio demolished comparisons to failed nation-building in Iraq and Libya.
"Venezuela looks nothing like Libya. It looks nothing like Iraq. It looks nothing like Afghanistan. It looks nothing like the Middle East other than the Iranian agents that are running through there plotting against America," Rubio explained. "These are Western countries with long traditions, on a people to people and cultural level, and ties to the United States. So there's nothing like that. I think people need to stop ascribing apples and oranges here."⁸
The Secretary of State made clear this operation serves America's national security interests, not some globalist nation-building agenda.
Trump's oil leverage gives America total control without boots on the ground
Rubio revealed how Trump plans to run Venezuela without deploying thousands of troops.
The key is oil.
"The key to what that regime relies on is their economy fueled by oil," Rubio told CBS. "Right now, it is an oil industry that is backwards and really needs a lot of help and work."⁹
Trump has maintained a naval oil quarantine around Venezuela since September.
U.S. forces have struck at least 35 alleged drug boats, killed at least 115 people on board, and seized multiple oil tankers near Venezuela.¹⁰
"Our military is helping the Coast Guard conduct a law enforcement function, which is not just the capture of Maduro, but the enforcement of our sanctions," Rubio explained. "And we think that's just tremendous leverage, incredible crippling leverage, which we intend to continue to use until we see the changes that we need to see."¹¹
None of Venezuela's oil money reaches ordinary Venezuelans anyway.
"None of the money from the oil gets to the people, it's all stolen by the people that are on the top there," Rubio said. "And so that's why we have a quarantine."¹²
Trump can now invite American oil companies to rebuild Venezuela's broken infrastructure and restart production under U.S. supervision.
The regime's remaining leaders either cooperate or watch their country's economy collapse completely.
Cuba just got put on notice
Rubio had a warning for the communist regime in Havana.
The Secretary of State revealed that Maduro's entire security apparatus was controlled by Cuban intelligence agents, not Venezuelans.
"One of the biggest problems Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba," Rubio said. "This poor island took over Venezuela. In some cases, one of the biggest problems Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba. They tried to basically colonize it from a security standpoint."¹³
Rubio's message to Cuban leaders was crystal clear.
"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned at least a little bit," Rubio stated.¹⁴
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel held a desperate rally in Havana on Saturday, vowing to give "our own blood" to defend Venezuela against "fascism and imperial barbarism."¹⁵
Cuba knows they're next on Trump's list.
The communist regime has propped up dictatorships across Latin America for decades while their own people starve.
Trump just demonstrated he's willing to use military force to eliminate drug-trafficking regimes in America's hemisphere.
Castro's heirs are terrified.
Democrats and their media allies spent the weekend attacking Trump's most successful foreign policy operation in decades.
They can't stand to see America win again.
¹ Luke Garrett, "Rubio says there's 'not a war against Venezuela' despite U.S. capture of Maduro," NPR, January 4, 2026.
² "Inside the operation: How the US moved to capture Nicolás Maduro," CNN, January 3, 2026.
³ "Transcript: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,' Jan. 4, 2026," CBS News, January 4, 2026.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Tim Hains, "Secretary Of State Rubio: 'I Watch These Experts And It's Clown Hour,'" RealClearPolitics, January 4, 2026.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ "Transcript: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,' Jan. 4, 2026," CBS News, January 4, 2026.
¹⁰ Luke Garrett, "Rubio says there's 'not a war against Venezuela' despite U.S. capture of Maduro," NPR, January 4, 2026.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² "Marco Rubio says 'the president always retains optionality' to occupy Venezuela," CBS News, January 4, 2026.
¹³ "Marco Rubio warns Cuba after U.S. captures Venezuela's Maduro," The Hill, January 4, 2026.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Tim Hains, "Cuban President Diaz-Canel: 'We Are Prepared To Give Our Blood' For Venezuela Against 'Fascism And Imperial Barbarism,'" RealClearPolitics, January 4, 2026.