Stephen Miller Being Considered for ‘More Elevated Role’ in Managing Post-Maduro Venezuela: WaPo

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller could be in position for a major role in determining the future of Venezuela — as the Trump administration works out how to “run” the Latin American country.

Donald Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. would “run the country” now that strongman Nicolas Maduro was in custody. Flanking Trump during his announcement were Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

The Washington Post cited anonymous sources Monday saying the White House was “weighing” giving Miller “a more elevated role in overseeing post-Maduro operations in Venezuela.”

“Miller has been the architect of the administration’s anti-immigration and border policy,” the report said, “and took a central role in the effort to remove Maduro.”

Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez has assumed power in the dictator’s absence, and Trump told The New York Post, “if the vice president does what we want” the U.S. won’t put boots on the ground.

However, Rodriguez lashed out at Trump shortly after Maduro’s capture, saying that Venezuela will not be a colony “of any empire.”

On Sunday, Trump’s former special envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams said he believed Trump spoke off-the-cuff when he claimed the U.S. would govern Venezuela.

“You know, it’s a very big country. It’s twice the size of California, 25 million people, roughly. It’s too complex for us to run,” Abrams said.

He continued, “What we should be looking for is a popular government, a democratic, elected government that can begin to rehabilitate the country with our support and the support of the other democracies that surround Venezuela. That’s possible. But the notion that we’re going to run it from Washington I think is implausible, and it’s just not going to work.”