Following launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building arena.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is uncertain, but the pledge marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 vocal opponent 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 break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles 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 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 "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be tough for some of Trump's backers to accept.
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 never ending use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations 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 frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
