Dems Unanimously Confirmed Rubio—Now He’s the Face of America’s New War

This essay appeared in the Oct. 30, 2025 edition of UNFTR’s premium newsletter. Become a UNFTR member to receive our bonus newsletter each week and for other perks.

For many in Washington, the nomination process for Trump’s Cabinet became yet another reality show episode—complete with so many comparisons to HBO’s “Veep” that the satire stopped working. When real-life West Wing incompetence mirrors a Sunday night comedy beat for beat, the joke loses its punch.

But the real danger wasn’t the spectacle. It was what it obscured: Marco Rubio, long-time U.S. senator from Florida and one-time presidential contender, sailing through confirmation as the “adult in the room” with hardly a sweat.

Among such names as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Pete Hegseth, Rubio was effectively unseen and unheard. The U.S. Senate confirmed him by a vote of 99-0, completing his rise from Trump punching bag to Trump enforcer on the international stage.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer captured the sentiment of the corporate wing of the Democratic Party toward Rubio perfectly: “Democrats have been very clear about our approach to President Trump’s nominees. We will neither rubber stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified, nor will we reflexively oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration. Senator Rubio is an example of a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly.”

Sure, Chuck.

Here’s how CNN reported on Rubio’s confirmation at the time: “Rubio’s nomination received a warm reception from many Senate Democrats. During his confirmation hearing, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Rubio ‘well-qualified to serve as secretary of state.’”

That Rubio had been a thorn in the Democrats’ side for several years, particularly during the Obama administration, seemed inconsequential. He was the consummate professional. No Democrat was going to stand in his way.

Ten months into his term, no one has had a more marked rise within the Trump regime than Rubio, and his influence is only growing by the day.

“Now, the former senator from Florida has become the most powerful U.S. Cabinet member by title since Henry Kissinger—accumulating four positions, including secretary of state, acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration,” the Washington Post wrote.

In true Kissinger fashion, Rubio has become the face behind the Trump administration’s worst-kept secret: its policy toward regime change in Venezuela.

Save for a dramatic change in policy, the toppling of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela feels all but inevitable. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has very publicly—and privately—telegraphed its chessboard. Alas, the campaign eerily resembles the lead-up to the war in Iraq, when the Bush administration flooded the media with tales of horrific consequences to the United States if Saddam Hussein’s regime remained in power. While not quite WMDs, the justification for the U.S.’s next war is ostensibly about illicit drugs—a paper-thin argument that the corporate media is legitimizing.

Along with its policy of open slaughter on the seas—illegal, by the way—the Trump administration this month said it was moving the USS Gerald Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, to the Caribbean. That follows the previous deployment of other military assets, including 10 F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico and a trio of Reaper drones, according to reports. It was also reported that two supersonic heavy bombers flew “close to Venezuela” this week, potentially heightening tensions.

The military ramp-up comes as previous diplomatic efforts by the administration have seemingly been discontinued.

What’s changed? It appears Rubio, who during the first Trump administration earned the moniker “Shadow Secretary of State for Latin America,” has effectively wrestled away any and all influence related to the region, specifically Venezuela, long a target of the former senator.

Drop Site all but confirmed how Rubio’s influence has shaped policy in Latin America, reporting that, “Two sources familiar with discussions at the White House note that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime proponent of regime change in Venezuela, has been the driving force behind the aggressive military and rhetorical posture toward the Maduro regime.”

It added: “Toward that end, Secretary Rubio—also in charge of the remnants of the U.S. Agency for International Development—has redirected millions of dollars in money previously allocated for ‘pro-democracy’ measures in Venezuela and the surrounding countries, a thinly veiled effort to prep the region for war.”

According to the outlet, Rubio had his eyes set on Venezuela from early on in the Trump administration, noting that he “cycled through multiple arguments for regime change” but Trump wasn’t moved by his initial arguments around “human rights and election concerns.” He finally struck gold when he was able to convince Trump that a more hawkish approach to Venezuela would also help him combat drug trafficking, citing the previous Trump administration’s indictment of Maduro.

Trump, a self-professed deal maker, eschewed the more diplomatic approach, which would’ve allowed the U.S. to seize more of Venezuela’s oil supply. As Drop Site reported, Rubio was able to convince the president that they’d have even greater control of Venezuelan oil through regime change.

As Drop Site reported and the digital outlet UnHerd recently emphasized, you can’t discount the power of Floridian politics in today’s Iraq-esque approach to Venezuela:

“Fly to Miami from the American heartland, and you’ll find what can appear like a right-wing foreign country, where Spanish prevails over English; and where denizens of Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and, especially, Cuban extraction pray at the altar of neoconservative ideology. This, even as they have recreated the clientelist politics of their homelands within the city council.

Drug trafficking, money laundering, as well as state- and nonstate-sponsored regime-change operations across the hemisphere form part of the city’s past and present mythology.”

That Rubio is setting the U.S. on a collision course with Venezuela—as if regime change and U.S. intervention worked out for Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and a host of other countries in the War on Terror era—is hardly shocking.

The then-U.S. senator was hyper-critical of Obama’s approach to Hugo Chávez back in 2012, even associating Chávez with Iran-linked intelligence efforts and regional narcoterrorism.

In 2015, during a U.S. Senate hearing titled, “Deepening Political and Economic Crisis in Venezuela: Implications for U.S. Interests and the Western Hemisphere,” he talked about the deep-seated connection between Venezuela and Florida, saying: “[W]ith vast oil reserves, Venezuela is one of the richest countries in Latin America, and the Venezuelan people are intelligent, they are well educated, they are hardworking people. The evidence of this can be found in my home state in Miami and in Doral and in Weston, Florida, where a vibrant Venezuelan community has helped build quality and vibrant communities. And Venezuela is also the cradle of democracy in South America. And that is why it is so tragic that Venezuela has turned into a social, political, and economic disaster.”

It was at that hearing that he publicly stated what he’s now actively instigating for: “The United States has no interest and no plans of imposing or encouraging what direction a free people of Venezuela freely choose.”

In 2019, Rubio famously shared an image of a bloodied Muammar Gaddafi between messages critical of Maduro.

It was that same year that Rubio inserted himself into the Latin America portfolio through, what the New York Times at the time characterized as, “sheer force of will.”

“Mr. Rubio has made himself, in effect, a virtual secretary of state for Latin America, driving administration strategy and articulating it to the region from the Senate floor, as he did the other day, and every television camera he can find. Perhaps no other individual outside Venezuela has been more critical in challenging President Nicolás Maduro.”

And Rubio was among the central figures in boosting political support for Juan Guaidó, the West’s hand-picked opposition figure in Venezuela.

It seems Rubio is on the cusp of realizing a dream that has been years in the making. But it’s not unfamiliar territory for the U.S., which has a long record of propping up right-wing regimes in Latin America to tragic results.

If that history isn’t evidence enough of the horrific consequences, we need look no further than recent misadventures in the Middle East.

As UnHerd wrote: “Quagmires in Latin America are no more pleasant than those in Mesopotamia.”

Maybe Schumer was onto something. As American imperialism goes, Rubio is definitely qualified for the job.

Image Source

• The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Changes were made.