Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the vow marks an sudden policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding 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 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."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past 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 notably different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force 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 detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt 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 regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off 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 "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are central to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be running 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 endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with 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 putting 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 before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy 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 administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a region that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
