A White House spokesperson confirmed Vance's involvement in the Venezuela operation through secure communications from a different location to avoid compromising the mission's secrecy. White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt hinted at a possible disagreement between U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the situation in Venezuela. Shortly after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced new dietary guidelines, Levitt spoke about Vance's position on the attack on Venezuela. A journalist asked Levitt: 'The New Yorker finally published a report titled 'Mr. Vice President,' which questioned his notable absence in the Venezuela affair.' The journalist added: 'The subtitle asked: Was the vice president's exclusion from the Venezuela operation a reflection of his anti-interventionist ideology? Or is it related to political calculations?' He concluded by asking: 'Can you clarify the vice president's role in U.S. policy toward Venezuela?' Levitt responded to the question, saying she had read the same report and 'to be honest, I laughed out loud because it is so clearly a fabricated report trying to sow doubt and division between the president and his team.' She added: 'Let me be very clear, the vice president is involved in all policies,' emphasizing: 'He is the president's right hand on all political matters, including policy toward Venezuela, and of course, he was briefed on this operation and has been deeply involved from the beginning.' According to Levitt, Vance was involved in the operation 'through secure communications from a different location so as not to harm the secrecy of this mission.' She said that Vance's distance during the operation's execution 'was extremely important to ensure this mission was carried out successfully without endangering our forces.' Since rumors began to circulate about the intense competition between the vice president and the secretary of state, Vance has denied it. In an interview with Sean Hannity, he was asked about the alleged tensions and said: 'I don't feel that at all.' He added: 'If Rubio ends up running, we can then deal with that when the time comes.' The U.S. vice president continued: 'People have asked me if I see Rubio as a competitor. First, if either of us ends up running, that's way in the future. So I think it would be ridiculous to say Rubio is a competitor. No... Rubio is my colleague.' The rumors continued despite former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz apparently confirming that Rubio and Vance would receive the Republican Party's nomination for the 2028 presidential election. Gaetz, whom President Donald Trump had nominated for attorney general before withdrawing his nomination, confirmed this in response to a post by the betting site Polymarket. The post read: 'Breaking... Marco Rubio's odds of winning the presidency have risen from 4% to 7% after the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Maduro.' The post, published last week, also listed other potential candidates and their chances of succeeding Trump. Gaetz reposted the message, writing: 'The deal is already done, Rubio will run with Vance.'
