In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" involves is uncertain, but the vow signifies an dramatic change of course for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
