In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had effectively apprehended 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, working 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 secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the pledge signifies an abrupt change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember 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 altered Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – 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 variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim seized 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 press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived 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 "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted 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 damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
