Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working 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, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge signifies an abrupt change of course for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his administration on effectively reconstructing 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 optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying capital 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra could be hard for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to criticize 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 fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from 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 challenged 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 branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect 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 previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following 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 more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
