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Is Everything Going According to Marco Rubio’s Plan?

January 14, 2026·47 min·4 clips

Marco Rubio secretly drove the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuela's leader Maduro.

This episode analyzes Marco Rubio's transformation from a Trump critic to a key figure in his second administration, focusing on his role in Venezuela, the dismantling of USAID, and his influence on U.S. foreign policy. Dexter Filkins discusses Rubio's political opportunism and the internal conflicts within the Trump administration.

As heard by us

A sharp look at Rubio's rise inside Trump's system, with Henry Kissinger as the benchmark.

This episode traces Marco Rubio's unusual rise with a tidy historical frame: he is one of only two people to hold U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor at the same time, and Henry Kissinger is the obvious reference point.

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Why you'd press play

You want the Rubio-Trump power story without the cable-news shouting.

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