Rubio, along with his trademark assurance, fielded questions on Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, and far more. The look got here at a pivotal second for President Donald Trump’s international coverage agenda, which has dominated headlines since he returned to the White House.
Here are 5 prime takeaways from Rubio’s listening to:
1. Rubio defends Maduro’s seize
Rubio, anticipating that the committee would have an interest within the administration’s technique for Venezuela, opened the listening to by talking off the cuff as to what comes subsequent after the Jan. 3 seize of former dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Rubio remained adamant that the administration has a three-phase strategy to a “friendly, stable, and prosperous” Venezuela, which begins with the nation’s stabilization earlier than pivoting to its “recovery.”
“It was an enormous strategic risk for the United States, not halfway around the world, not in another continent, but in the hemisphere in which we all live,” he mentioned of Venezuela. “It was having dramatic impacts on us, but also on Colombia and on the Caribbean Basin, and all sorts of other places. It was an untenable situation, and it had to be addressed. And it was addressed.”
Rubio sought to counter issues associated to the prospect of a “forever war,” contending the administration has been “making good and decent progress” and that “we are certainly better off today in Venezuela than we were four weeks ago.”
To that finish, Rubio previewed that the U.S. would have a diplomatic presence in Venezuela led by Laura Dogu, the previous U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras. This comes amid the slower-than-expected launch of Maduro’s political prisoners and uncertainty a few timeline for brand spanking new democratic elections.
Although there have been questions in regards to the lack of congressional session earlier than Maduro’s seize, lots of the lawmakers have been involved in regards to the administration’s administration of Venezuelan oil reserves, with income being held in offshore financial institution accounts in Qatar.
“We’re using that short-term mechanism both to stabilize the country, but also to make sure that the oil proceeds that are currently being generated through the licenses we’ll now begin to issue on the sanctioned oil goes to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, not to fund the system that existed in the past,” Rubio mentioned.
That didn’t cease Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) from criticizing the administration’s actions in Venezuela as “an act of war.”
“We didn’t remove an elected official,” Rubio mentioned. “We removed someone who was not elected, and it was actually an indicted drug trafficker in the United States.”
A collage of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, proper, throughout Rubio’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee listening to on the raid to seize former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, on the Capitol in Washington. (AP, Washington Examiner photographs)
Rubio asserted that Operation Absolute Resolve was “certainly startling to China, to Russia, to Iran, to any adversary around the world” as a result of the U.S. is “the only country in the world that could have done this.”
The secretary was additionally candid about what Maduro’s seize might imply for Cuba, telling the committee Trump supported regime change there, although he didn’t commit to it being instigated by the administration.
“There’s no doubt about the fact that it would be of great benefit to the United States if Cuba was no longer governed by an autocratic regime,” he mentioned.
2. Rubio: NATO should be ‘reimagined’
Senate Foreign Relations Committee rating member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) used her alternative for questions to press Rubio on the administration’s dedication to NATO one week after the alliance appeared on the precipice of collapse over Trump’s calls for for Greenland, a Danish territory.
Rubio downplayed Trump’s criticisms of NATO as having precedent amongst his predecessors, claiming solely that “this president complains about it louder than other presidents” earlier than including that NATO “needs to be reimagined.”
“Our like-minded partners have to have capability,” the secretary mentioned, including that a lot of Europe has prioritized protection spending in favor of “social programs” and that Spain, for instance, continues to be not spending 5% of its GDP on protection.
“Without the U.S., there is no NATO, and we understand that in order for NATO to be stronger, our partners need to be stronger,” he continued. “One of the things we’ve explained to our allies in NATO is the United States is not simply focused on Europe. We also have defense needs in the Western Hemisphere. We have defense needs in the Indo-Pacific… We may be the richest country in the world, but we don’t have unlimited resources.”
On Greenland, Rubio mentioned the U.S. and Denmark have been in a “good place right now” amid “technical-level meetings” as a part of a “process that’s going to bring us to a good outcome for everybody.”
“We’re going to try to do it in a way that isn’t like a media circus every time these conversations happen, because we think that creates more flexibility on both sides to arrive at a positive outcome. And I think we’re going to get there,” he mentioned.
3. Rubio: Iran ‘probably weaker’ than ever
Regarding Iran, Rubio instructed the committee his evaluation is that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s regime is “probably weaker than it has ever been” after weeks of protests.
“The core problem they face, unlike the protests you saw in the past on some other topics, is that they don’t have a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy is in collapse,” he mentioned.
To that finish, Rubio underscored that Iran’s financial system is crumbling as a result of the regime has spent “all their money and all their resources building weapons and sponsoring terrorist groups around the world, instead of reinvesting it back into their society.”
“The protests may have ebbed, but they will spark up again in the future because this regime, unless they are willing to change and/or leave, have no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better,” he mentioned.
Rubio’s look got here as Trump on Tuesday spoke overtly in regards to the “massive armada” he has deployed to Iran after threatening navy motion in response to Khamenei’s crackdown on protests and calls for for a brand new nuclear deal.
4. Rubio: Taiwan is ‘Xi’s legacy challenge’
Rubio reiterated that, regardless of the criticism, the U.S.’s perceived withdrawal from Europe is in response to the administration’s acknowledgement of nationwide safety threats posed by different components of the world, together with China.
While underscoring the Trump administration’s “competitor, not adversary” technique relating to China, Rubio described Chinese President Xi Jinping’s need for extra management over Taiwan as virtually inevitable as a part of Xi’s “legacy project.”
“He’s made very clear that that’s what he intends to do, and that’s going to be irrespective of anything that happens in the world,” Rubio mentioned of Xi when requested whether or not there was a message for China within the administration’s seize of Maduro.
5. Rubio leverages relationships, reduces pressure with Democrats
Rubio appeared to benefit from his Senate expertise to decrease tensions, significantly with Democratic members of the committee. At occasions, he wrote down their multipart questions so he might reply to all of them.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies earlier than the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, on the Capitol in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Washington Examiner)
The most pointed Democratic questioning got here from the likes of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who criticized Rubio for under making himself accessible to the panel “five months” into the U.S.’s aggressive technique relating to so-called “narco-terrorists” off the coast of Venezuela earlier than the administration’s seize of Maduro.
“I’d like to talk about the complete weakness of the legal rationale about the strikes on boats in international waters, but I can’t because the administration has only shared it with members in a classified setting,” Kaine mentioned.
Kaine additionally sought to make clear whether or not Trump confused Greenland and Iceland throughout his remarks final week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Yeah, he meant to say Greenland,” Rubio mentioned. “But I think we’re all familiar with presidents that have verbal stumbles. We’ve had presidents like that before.”
Similarly, Rubio defended the administration’s determination not to search congressional approval earlier than Maduro’s seize. He described it as a “trigger”-based mission, although he did concede he underscored the significance of consulting Congress when he was of their place.
On a number of events, Democrats expressed settlement with a number of the Trump administration’s international coverage, particularly its opposition to Maduro and its name for European nations to contribute extra to NATO.
RUBIO’S ABILITY TO SIT OUT THE MINNEAPOLIS PR CRISIS IS A LUXURY AS 2028 LOOMS
“I must say that you said something I like,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) mentioned of the administration’s dedication that no taxpayer {dollars} will probably be spent to “prop up Venezuela.”
Rubio quipped in response, “I’m making progress.”
