In the wake of launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" involves is unclear, but the commitment signifies an abrupt shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of 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 planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – 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 around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time 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.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to finance it," she stated. "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 retake seized US oil and halt 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 warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack 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 attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility 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, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
