A new report indicates that, behind closed doors, tensions have flared between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions. 

This is according to a report from The Hill.

This comes just after a report from the New York Times, which claims that Rubio and Grenell "botched" a hostage deal.

The Trump administration has not released a public statement on the situation.

Background

The Times reports it titled, "U.S. Botched a Deal to Swap Venezuelans Held in El Salvador for Americans."

It begins:

The Trump administration’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was overseeing a deal to free several Americans and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela in exchange for sending home about 250 Venezuelan migrants the United States had deported to El Salvador. But the deal never happened.

The outlet goes on to claim that Grenell is "part of the reason" why.

It writes:

President Trump’s envoy to Venezuela was working on his own deal, one with terms that Venezuela deemed more attractive. In exchange for American prisoners, he was offering to allow Chevron to continue its oil operations in Venezuela, a vital source of revenue for its authoritarian government.

No deal, however, happened because, according to the outlet, "the lack of coordination left Venezuelan officials unclear about who spoke for Mr. Trump and, ultimately, left both American and Venezuelan detainees imprisoned."

Tensions flare

According to The Hill's report, Grenell is causing "tensions" within the Trump administration, with some accusing him of "freelancing" in such a way as to hurt U.S. relations.

The outlet reports:

Grenell is a divisive character in Trump world. He is lauded by supporters for being one of the president’s most ardent defenders, and for his willingness to buck conventional foreign policy thinking. But his critics within the administration succeeded in boxing him out of the top-level positions he coveted most, secretary of State and national security adviser.

This is why, so the story goes, Grenell ended up as Trump's "Envoy of special missions."

The Hill writes:

Trump appointed him “envoy of special missions” with a mandate that stretched from Venezuela to North Korea. He has added to his portfolio as president of Washington’s cultural home, the Kennedy Center, and was dispatched to California to oversee the federal response to the wildfires.

Until we hear from Trump, Rubio, or Grenell about the situation, it is hard to really say what is going on here.