The New York Times reported on Saturday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has assumed de facto administrative control over Venezuela, managing its public finances, the distribution of natural resources, and the day-to-day operations of its government from Washington. The account, based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former officials from both countries, describes an arrangement that took shape after US special forces detained President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026 and his former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, was installed as interim leader with the backing of the White House. Rubio, who has not travelled to Caracas, maintains constant contact with Rodríguez via WhatsApp in Spanish, exchanging policy instructions alongside personal photographs and birthday greetings, the paper said.

According to the investigation, the US Treasury now collects the bulk of Venezuela’s oil export revenues—channelled through trading houses including Trafigura and Vitol—and releases the funds incrementally through private Venezuelan banks. Rubio and his team set the conditions for how and by whom the money can be spent, a mechanism that US officials frame as a safeguard against corruption while also shielding the interim government from international creditors. The secretary of state further oversees the issuance of sanctions waivers, giving preference to American energy firms over European competitors, and has pressed Rodríguez to restructure the oil sector accordingly. In the security domain, Caracas submits senior appointments, including the defence minister, for Washington’s approval, and has terminated joint ventures with Russia’s Rosneft. The report adds that US officials even review Rodríguez’s public statements.

Viewed from Tehran and Moscow, the shift in Venezuela’s foreign policy is equally pronounced. The interim government has broken with the Maduro era’s alignment with Iran, pointedly declining to condemn joint US-Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets and instead criticising Tehran’s retaliatory actions. Rodríguez has moved to normalise relations with Israel, sending Passover greetings to Venezuela’s Jewish community and, after devastating earthquakes in June, formally thanking an Israeli search-and-rescue team—the first official contact between the two states in 17 years. Analysts in the Middle East interpret these steps as a calculated effort to demonstrate loyalty to the Trump administration’s regional priorities and to attract US investment in mining, electricity, and oil.

President Donald Trump has publicly endorsed Rodríguez and, according to the New York Times, informally suggested that Venezuela could become the 51st US state. While Rubio has stated that the administration’s planning foresees a democratic transition, the newspaper notes that no date for free elections has been set. The US has deployed 900 military personnel and committed roughly $400 million in emergency assistance following the earthquakes, further embedding its operational footprint. The interim government’s grip on the state apparatus remains uncertain, and foreign investors continue to show caution. Oil contract negotiations, postponed by the natural disasters, are expected to resume as Washington consolidates its control over the country’s economic and political levers.