{"id":2555568,"date":"2026-01-28T12:31:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rubio-says-maduro-capture-was-trigger-based-operation\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:34:22","slug":"rubio-says-maduro-capture-was-trigger-based-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rubio-says-maduro-capture-was-trigger-based-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio says Maduro capture was &#8216;trigger-based operation&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frubio-says-maduro-capture-was-trigger-based-operation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2555568&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators the raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was a &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-pushes-law-enforcement-rationale-for-maduro-capture\/\" title=\"... pushes law enforcement rationale for ...\">trigger-based<\/a>&#8221; operation that depended on multiple factors aligning at the right time and thus could not reliably have been briefed to Congress in advance. Pressed by Sen.Chris Coons about why lawmakers weren\u2019t notified, Rubio said the mission only became a realistic option late in December after negotiations failed and that operational security\u2014managed by the Pentagon\u2014limited who could be told.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio also said a leak by a Pentagon contractor endangered lives and might have forced cancellation, illustrating the tension between congressional notification and protecting sensitive details. He emphasized deference to military judgment on operational security despite efforts to keep information constrained.<\/p>\n<p>The operation, called Operation Absolute Resolve, occurred in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">early hours<\/a> of Jan. 3 and reportedly involved Delta Force commandos and other special forces, along with cyberattacks and limited bombing, to seize maduro in Caracas. The raid caught manny in Congress by surprise and prompted criticism from some lawmakers about the lack of prior consultation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Rubio says Maduro capture was &lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >trigger-based operation&#038;rsquo<\/a>;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2482431\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Secretary of State <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marco-rubio\/\">Marco Rubio<\/a> stressed that the raid to capture former <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/venezuela\/\">Venezuelan<\/a> dictator <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nicolas-maduro\/\">Nicolas Maduro<\/a> was a &ldquo;trigger-based operation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When pressed by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) about why Congress didn&rsquo;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schumer-targets-republicans-critical-of-venezuela-attack\/\" title=\"Schumer targets Republicans critical of Venezuela attack\">receive advance notification<\/a> of the raid, Rubio proposed two explanations: that the operation was contingent on several different factors aligning at an exact moment, and to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/claims-say-oj-simpson-was-with-loved-ones-during-last-moments-his-attorney-tells-a-very-different-story\/\" title=\"Reports suggest OJ Simpson&#039;s final moments with family contradicted by his attorney\">prevent information leaks<\/a>. He began by addressing Coons&rsquo;s point that the operation had been rehearsed for months prior, so the Trump administration should have been able to address Congress.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4436755\/mexico-halts-oil-shipments-cuba-trump-eyes-regime-change\/\">Mexico halts oil shipments to Cuba as Trump eyes regime change<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4436783\/watch-live-rubio-testifies-to-senate-on-us-operations-in-venezuela\/\">WATCH LIVE: Rubio testifies to Senate on US operations in Venezuela<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4436598\/trump-threatens-attack-iran-worse-than-midnight-hammer-military-buildup-in-region\/\">Trump threatens attack on Iran worse than &#8216;Midnight Hammer&#8217; with military buildup in the region<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;One of the reasons why you rehearse it is to see if it&rsquo;s even feasible to basically go to the president and say, &lsquo;Is this something that&rsquo;s even an option on the table?&rsquo; The truth of the matter is that this, not even this mission, could not have been briefed to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\">Congress<\/a>, because it wasn&rsquo;t even in the realm of possibilities until very late in December, when all of our efforts to negotiate with Maduro had failed, and the president was finally presented these options and made these decisions,&rdquo; Rubio said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was also a trigger-based operation. It may never have happened. It required a number of factors to all align at the right place, at the right time, and a very limited window, and it wasn&rsquo;t even clear if it was ever going to be possible,&rdquo; he added. <\/p>\n<p>Rubio argued that he wasn&rsquo;t able to brief Congress on the operation beforehand, even if he wanted to, due to deference to the Pentagon over operational security.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s also the aspect which I do not control, and that is to deference the Department of War on operational security, despite the fact that we had kept this quite constrained,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio addressed a recent raid against a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/media\/\">reporter<\/a> over their contact with a Department of War source, who allegedly leaked the details of the operation beforehand.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/4433956\/venezuela-acting-president-delcy-rodriguez-presses-against-us-control-enough-already\/\">VENEZUELA&rsquo;S ACTING PRESIDENT REBUKES US CONTROL: &lsquo;ENOUGH ALREADY&rsquo;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The truth of the matter is that this was leaked. We now know it was leaked by a contractor in the Department of War, that had it been published, would have endangered the lives of people or would have probably canceled the ability to carry out the mission. So this is a real tension, and one that I&rsquo;m doing the best I can to try to manage within the constraints of two things, operational security and also decisions being made,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Operation Absolute Resolve <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4400178\/trump-hails-success-of-fantastic-maduro-mission\/\">took place in the early morning hours of Jan. 3<\/a>, involving scores of Delta Force commandos and other special forces snatching Maduro from the heart of Caracas after a cyberattack and limited bombing campaign. The raid took nearly everyone by surprise, including Congress, some of whom were angered by their lack of previous notification for such a complex operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rubio: Maduro raid was &#8216;trigger-based&#8217; operation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2555569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/marco-rubio-donald-trump-venezuela-strike-collage-e1769619351591.jpg?1769601346&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[70106,34360,34922,36408,50813],"class_list":["post-2555568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-covert-operation","tag-marco-rubio","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-us-foreign-policy","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/marco-rubio-donald-trump-venezuela-strike-collage-e1769619351591.jpg?1769601346&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2555568"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2555573,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2555568\/revisions\/2555573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2555569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2555568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2555568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2555568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}