Chanakyaneeti or sidelined: Why is Vance missing from Trump’s Venezuela triumph?

While Trump’s inner circle toasted the capture of Nicolás Maduro, a spectacle equal parts action movie and reality show, the Vice President was nowhere to be seen. In the impromptu “war room” where Trump green-lit the raid on Caracas, Vance’s chair was reportedly empty. And when the administration brass held a press conference to celebrate their “perfect” operation, Vance was again absent, leaving Rubio to play the starring role as the public face of America’s newest foreign intervention.