Qatar Pushes U.S.-Venezuela Diplomacy as Trump Focuses on Military Action

The Gulf Arab nation Qatar is trying to act as a mediator in the conflict between the United States and Venezuela, even as President Trump continues building up military forces in the Caribbean and striking civilian boats, according to three people with knowledge of Qatar’s diplomacy.

Qatar’s efforts have been encouraged by the Venezuelan government led by President Nicolás Maduro, but they have not been embraced by the Trump administration, which appears more focused on military options than on diplomacy.

Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser, says Mr. Maduro is an illegitimate leader and a fugitive from a 2020 Justice Department indictment on drug trafficking charges. Mr. Rubio has been trying to craft a strategy to oust Mr. Maduro through military pressure, a mission supported by John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, and Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser.

“I do know Qatar is passing messages back and forth,” said Juan Gonzalez, who was the director for Western Hemisphere affairs on the National Security Council during the Biden administration. “They’re trying to find a way to encourage a more structured dialogue or back channel between both sides, but they have not been getting much traction with the Trump administration.”

A current official described Qatar’s efforts as trying to keep channels of communication open between the United States and Venezuela as part of the tiny nation’s goal of playing an important role in global diplomacy.

It is one of 12 sets of multinational diplomacy in which Qatar is involved, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.

Among the 12 sets of negotiations, Qatar is acting as a mediator in several high-stakes talks involving the Trump administration and other parties, including on Israel’s war in Gaza. But on Venezuela, Mr. Rubio and his allies are succeeding in pushing a militaristic approach, so the Trump administration has refrained from asking Qatar to play a significant diplomatic role.

Mr. Trump has not said publicly that he intends to oust Mr. Maduro. But last week, he told Richard Grenell, a special presidential envoy and the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center, to halt diplomatic efforts with Mr. Maduro and his government, U.S. officials have said.