Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort 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 team featuring 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 safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" involves is unclear, but the vow signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-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 rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, 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 retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global 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 condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared 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 main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and overthrow attempts 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 decision not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American casualties and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
