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President Donald Trump’s advisers remain happy with Venezuela’s interim president — even as she seems at times to be going rogue.
It’s been exactly one month since the US ousted Nicolás Maduro, and his deputy turned successor, Delcy Rodríguez, is professing cooperation with the Trump administration while delivering near-simultaneous public condemnations of Washington.
That’s raising questions about how serious Rodríguez is about working with the US — and how long her cooperation will last.
She released some political prisoners and announced a bill that could lead to amnesty for hundreds more. She signed a law overhauling Venezuela’s oil sector and vowed that the country’s first $300 million received from oil sales would be used “to consolidate and stabilize” the market.
Rodríguez is also maintaining weekly communication with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in addition to sitting down this week with newly appointed US envoy Laura Dogu to discuss bilateral relations.
But her public appearances demonstrate a more pugnacious side, even as she advocates for “diplomacy” between the US and Venezuela. She criticized Maduro’s capture and just last week declared she’s had “enough” of “orders” from Washington — hardly the only comments where she’s distanced herself from the US government.
If the administration has any concerns about the dissonance between Rodríguez’s rhetoric and her actions, it’s not showing yet. Multiple sources close to Trump’s team told Semafor that the interim president will be judged on her “actions, not words,” as Rubio put it during testimony on Capitol Hill last week.
“Public comments do not necessarily line up with actions,” a senior administration official told Semafor. The official said that Trump is exerting “maximum leverage” over those in charge of Venezuela and pointed to the “results” the country has seen in the past month.
“The President expects this cooperation to continue,” the official added.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said that Rodriguez “has to say stupid sh*t” because she must appeal to a specific “audience” within the country. He called her a “lunatic” — albeit a cooperative one.
“But at the end of the day, she’s doing what we want her to do,” added Moreno, a Colombian American and close ally of the White House.
One reason Trump aides are ignoring Rodríguez’s remarks for now: They see themselves as holding all the cards. The administration is continuing to point to its “leverage” against Venezuela, which include sanctions and control of the country’s oil.
“She’s on a short leash and doesn’t have much of a choice to comply,” said one person close to the White House who is also an ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The bombastic comments are “her way of satisfying the remnants of the regime,” this person added.
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Still, the administration doesn’t exactly trust Rodríguez, even as Trump recently praised her as “a terrific person” who has worked “well” with the US. The administration has made clear it doesn’t see her leadership as “legitimate” and has repeatedly vowed to hold new elections in Venezuela (while declining to provide a specific timeline).
The person close to the White House predicted elections could occur “within 24 months.”
Plenty of Trump allies are still pushing for Rodríguez to step aside soon.
“I want a real election,” said Sen. Rick Scott. “A real election would have had Maria [Machado] on the ballot last time. If she’s the one that wins in a real election, she ought to win.”
Regardless of how prominent Republicans feel about Machado, many of them also suspect Rodríguez is only complying with Trump in the short term.
“She’s a hard-left communist,” Moreno said. “She’s part of the corrupt Maduro regime. She also was Maduro’s enforcer.”
The person close to the White House put it bluntly: “Her whole goal is to try and wait out Trump.”
Shelby and Burgess’ View
The US has tried ousting foreign leaders in the past, and it’s always a risky endeavor. That’s no different in Venezuela.
The Trump administration holds much of the leverage over Venezuela, but it’s also making a bet that its interim president’s bluster is ultimately irrelevant. Rubio wrote last week that her “own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives.”
That bet might not pay off over time, especially given that Rodriguez is already willing to publicly slam the administration.
Room for Disagreement
At least some sectors of the administration are wary of Rodríguez’s commitment to working with the US. Recent US intelligence doubts that the Venezuelan interim president will agree to some of Washington’s demands to cut ties with countries like Iran, China, and Russia, Reuters reported.
She has yet to announce any plans to shift away from such US adversaries.