Following executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking press conference 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 delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled 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 "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be tough for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived 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 preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be managing 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 involved in endless wars 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 rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting 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 before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
