Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s apparent attempt to pass a note under the radar was foiled by President Donald Trump immediately reading it out loud.
Trump and other officials were meeting with oil executives on Friday, including those from Chevron and Exxon, in a push to get them to invest billions into oil production in Venezuela. Following the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the president of the oil-rich South American country, Trump declared the U.S. would “run” Venezuela and become “strongly involved” in its oil industry.
During the meeting, Trump was mid-sentence when Rubio, seated next to him, placed a small piece of paper in front of him.
“Marco just gave me a note,” the president announced, before launching into a read-aloud. ”‘Go back to Chevron, they want to discuss something.’”
Appearing take Rubio’s advice, he continued, “Go ahead, I’m going back to Chevron.”
The president added, “Thank you, Marco,” with a laugh and a pat on Rubio’s back.
The moment appeared to cause some confusion; a voice could be heard asking, “Is there a question, Mr. President?”
“Yes. Go ahead. Marco, what are you saying here?” he asked, waving the note.
At another point in the meeting, Trump took an impromptu breather to stare out the window at his in-progress White House ballroom.