Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed 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 narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have largely involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and resources that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack 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 mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
