The Scoop
As President Donald Trump’s posture toward Venezuela grows increasingly aggressive, his special missions envoy Ric Grenell is striking a far more conciliatory tone — complicating the administration’s work and frustrating some of Grenell’s colleagues.
Grenell has long argued for diplomacy with Venezuela and its socialist leader, Nicolás Maduro. He’s maintained that stance even as the Trump administration shifts military resources into the Caribbean, striking three vessels so far that it alleged were carrying drugs offshore Venezuela.
During last week’s CPAC Paraguay conference in Asunción, Grenell reiterated that he believes a US-Venezuela “deal” is still possible and said he’s “been to see” Maduro. This week, he told CBS that he has “been engaging” with Venezuela over the alleged drug trafficking boats “at the direction of President Trump,” after Maduro sent a letter to Trump suggesting the Venezuelan leader negotiate through Grenell.
“I’ve spoken to Mr. Maduro, I’ve gone down to Venezuela, and I continue to talk to his team,” he said.
But Grenell’s recent comments on Venezuela have frustrated some administration officials and other Trump allies who say his work doesn’t represent the president’s formal stance. One senior administration official told Semafor that Grenell is no longer involved in the administration’s Venezuela policy, though he still holds the special envoy title.
“Unfortunately, Ric Grenell’s personal comments have been out of step with the president and administration, and the president himself and secretary of state should be deemed as the official policymakers,” the administration official told Semafor.
Semafor first reported in March that the administration had put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of deportation talks with Caracas, sidelining Grenell.
Another person close to the White House and familiar with the administration’s Venezuela policy offered a blunter perspective, saying Grenell “appears to have created a new genre of Maduro fan fiction where the dictator is just a good guy who’s misunderstood, where drugs aren’t a problem, and where providing hard currency to the world’s most wanted terrorist isn’t a big deal.”
Grenell did not respond to questions for this story.
Know More
Grenell’s efforts to keep a channel open with Maduro, seeing detente with Caracas as a counter to China’s influence in the region, represent a vastly different strategy to the one Trump and Rubio appear to have chosen. It’s one that some analysts see as potentially viable in Venezuela, when coupled with broader strategies to encourage change on the ground.
“The United States should maintain discreet back-channel communications with Maduro and his inner circle, with the aim of exploring opportunities for a broader democratic and economic opening to the benefit of US interests,” the Atlantic Council wrote in a July brief outlining “two options for an ‘America First’ approach” to Venezuela.
“This engagement must remain tied to specific, verifiable progress, and must avoid unilateral concessions without meaningful steps toward democratization,” the brief added.
Yet the US boat strikes off the coast of Venezuela, conducted without congressional approval or any formal notification to Capitol Hill, have killed 17 people and prompted experts to warn about illegal extrajudicial operations.
“There is a disconnect, and it does matter,” said Eric Farnsworth, a senior associate with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It matters not necessarily because of the ultimate course of action, although we don’t know what that course is going to be, but it matters because it’s confusing to the American public. And if you’re trying to build support for a stronger action on Venezuela, then mixed messaging and confusion is not helpful.
“But second, and I think more importantly,” he added, “it allows the Maduro regime and critics of the United States to try to sow division and try to play factions off against each other.”
Trump’s second term started out sunnier for Grenell, who played a key role in bringing back several Americans imprisoned in the country and sought to help negotiate deportation flights. Venezuela was quickly seen as part of his portfolio.
But Grenell also clashed with Rubio, a Venezuela hawk since his days as a Florida senator, and the White House ultimately put Rubio in charge of deportation flights.
That’s on top of the long back-and-forth over Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil to the US; at one point, Grenell said an extension would “be granted” before Rubio shut that down on social media. Ultimately, the administration agreed to a limited deal that restricted any oil payments to the Venezuelan government. (The White House, over the summer, pushed back on reports of tension between the two).
Since then, the administration has, while declining to publicly state its position as regime change, signaled clear interest in removing Maduro from power. The US has directly linked the gang Tren de Araguas to Maduro and doubled its bounty for his arrest to $50 million, in addition to the strikes on alleged drug boats in the region.
The senior administration official told Semafor that Rubio, Trump, the vice president, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are among those leading Venezuela discussions internally.
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Grenell is notably juggling multiple jobs at the moment: In addition to serving as special envoy, he serves as the president of the Kennedy Center and was recently added to the board of directors of entertainment giant Live Nation.
Room for Disagreement
Grenell has at least one ally who has proven influential in swaying Trump on personnel decisions: Laura Loomer, the right-wing activist, defended Grenell on X this week amid speculation about Grenell’s involvement in negotiations with Maduro and Chevron.
“Grenell could not have travelled to Venezuela to negotiate the release of hostages without President Trump’s knowledge and approval,” Loomer wrote. “He couldn’t even speak to Maduro without President Trump’s approval since there are sanctions on Venezuela.”
Shelby’s view
This isn’t the first time Grenell has raised the hackles of other Trump allies who see him as unnecessarily complicating their work. He’s the notable exception to an administration that’s otherwise in lockstep, which raises the question: Why is he still special envoy?
And what is his current portfolio — since it’s not, apparently, Venezuela?
The answer to the first question may be the obvious one: Trump continues to support the envoy, and that’s often the only thing that matters in his administration.
Still, it’s notable how many people working for Trump have grown exasperated with Grenell in the last several months, even beyond Venezuela. So it’s hard to see how Grenell holds on to his post as special envoy for the long term.
Notable
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The White House rejected Maduro’s letter, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters “there were a lot of lies” and that the administration’s position on Venezuela remains unchanged.
