Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is ambiguous, but the commitment represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force internationally.
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, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and backing for foreign wars 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 notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American casualties and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
