In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced 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 taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the vow represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
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 overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is more than willing to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants 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 pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for 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, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm 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 hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal 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 opponents were sharper.
"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 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 censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional 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 requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
