Two developments over the last 10 days have sharply brought into the spotlight two key aspects of U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” policy at work — the United States’ approach towards the world and its enforcement of immigration laws to rid the country of illegal residents. On January 3, a U.S. military operation captured Venezuela’s President and brought him to New York. On January 7, a U.S. citizen, Renee Nicole Good, was shot dead during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis. The facts of, and reasons for, the incident remain contested. At the centre of these two events are two key figures in the Trump administration — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, spearheading U.S. foreign policy, and Vice-President J.D. Vance, whose focus is domestic, particularly immigration enforcement.
Both Mr. Rubio and Mr. Vance are avowed Christians who proclaim their politics to be an extension of their faith. Mr. Rubio and Mr. Vance — aged 54 and 41, respectively — are viewed as the possible heirs to the MAGA movement. Both were originally “Never Trumpers” — who staunchly opposed the President when he entered the political scene in 2015. Later, as colleagues in the Senate, both shifted to the MAGA camp as Trump loyalists. Each was considered a potential running mate for Mr. Trump in the 2024 elections. Mr. Vance made the cut, and is now widely seen as a potential successor of Mr. Trump.
On the set of issues these incidents highlight — American intervention in Venezuela and the unyielding enforcement of immigration policy, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Vance differ in their priorities. Mr. Vance, who joined the Senate in 2023 — 12 years after Mr. Rubio — has been a critic of U.S. interventions abroad. Mr. Rubio, on the other hand, had supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the clampdown on Iran as a Senator, and was once known as a foreign policy hawk. However, his views on immigration were softer — he supported amnesty for undocumented residents through his Bill on immigration that he drafted alongside Democrat Senators in 2013. Mr. Rubio was born into a Cuban immigrant family. Mr. Vance, on the other hand, believes U.S. interventions abroad have been largely useless — or even detrimental — to national interests. His focus is on absolute implementation of immigration laws. This makes Mr. Vance a more strident proponent of MAGA’s Christian nationalism than Mr. Rubio.
Varying enthusiasm
While both have realigned their positions to reflect a shared approach under the Trump administration, their enthusiasm varies depending on the issues at hand, as was evident over Venezuela operation and the ICE shooting. Mr. Rubio came out all guns blazing to explain and defend the U.S. operation in Venezuela — saying that the involvement has a “three fold-process” involving stabilisation, recovery and transition, and the operation has given the U.S. “strongest possible leverage”. He also said that around 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil will be sold by America in the market “for the benefit of the United States” and the profit will be “disbursed” in a way that the Venezuelan people will also benefit down the path. Mr. Vance too made public statements in support but his absence at the presser to announce the Venezuela intervention was noticed. The administration explained it as intentional and driven by operational security concerns. But it would be reasonable to assume that Mr. Vance would be less enthusiastic than Mr. Rubio about any foreign intervention going by their respective track records.
After the shooting of Minneapolis, Mr. Vance was quick to put himself at the centre of the incident. “If you don’t like the immigration policy of the Trump administration, attack me. Leave our law enforcement alone,” he said on X. “A tragedy? Absolutely. But a tragedy that falls on this woman.” Turning the ire on critics, he said, “This was an attack on federal law enforcement. This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people,” baiting a campaign against him which he has earned. Critics of the Trump administration are now taking on Mr. Vance, and he possibly calculates that it would place him as the central character in the succession saga that will begin to play out during the midterm election campaign later this year. The MAGA base, part of which has been turning their ire on him for his Indian-origin wife Usha, could find in him a true torchbearer of their non-interventionist foreign policy and hard enforcement of immigration laws; Mr. Rubio, who over the years held a view that supported interventions abroad and a softer approach to undocumented people in the U.S., is considered a member of the pre-Trump Republicans who were closely aligned with the U.S. security establishment.
Mr. Rubio was a strong critic of Vladimir Putin, which Mr. Trump is not; and a strong supporter of American support for Israel which MAGA is not. As Secretary of State in the Trump administration, Mr. Rubio warned Israel in October 2025 over its actions in the West Bank saying that it could imperil President Trump’s plan to end the conflict. On the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in September 2025, he urged “Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war”.
Different strands
Mr. Vance has used his position to advance his international politics of scepticism about Europe, and openness towards Russia. In October 2025, while meeting with Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu, he remarked that “America won’t be a puppet” state. On the Knesset’s resolution for application of Israeli Law to the West Bank, a move tantamount to takeover, Mr. Vance derided the vote calling it a “very stupid stunt”. Their journey as Christian politicians also offer two different strands with their respective policy implications — Mr. Vance moved away from an evangelical sect towards Roman Catholicism; Mr. Rubio drifted from Catholicism towards an evangelical strand though now he is a Roman Catholic again. In the aftermath of the shooting at Minneapolis, Mr. Vance said on an X post: “If you want to say this woman’s death is a tragedy, that we should pray for her soul as Christians and Americans, then I agree with you.” Meanwhile, Mr. Rubio has remained silent on the incident.
While Mr. Vance continues to occupy the prime position as the favourite of the MAGA universe, Mr. Rubio would clearly have the backing of the establishment. That all U.S. Senators across both parties voted for Mr. Rubio’s confirmation as the Secretary of State tells something about his acceptability. It is precisely that acceptability that makes him a suspect in the MAGA world. For Mr. Vance, it is confrontation that he seeks and gets. By going ballistic against critics and in defence of ICE officers, Mr. Vance seemed to reclaim the spotlight that had turned to Mr. Rubio after Venezuela.
(Research by Tabshir Shams)
Published – January 11, 2026 01:00 am IST
