Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating 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 judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge marks an dramatic change of course for the president, full of contradictions and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding 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 vocal opponent 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 shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
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 charging him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
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 issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America 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 endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
