Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including 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 safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are notably distinct.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to finance 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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"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 entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
