In the wake of launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered 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 "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now betting his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further 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 intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are forced to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared 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 excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.