Following executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had effectively seized 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 seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the vow marks an abrupt shift in direction for the president, full of contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to heed 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have largely involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove hard for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she stated. "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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed 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 "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and resources that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and protect institutional 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 concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for years while stabilising a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
