Following executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said 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 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 "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the vow represents an dramatic change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 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: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – 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 more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved rockets and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern 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 more direct.
"The United States 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 involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility 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 concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
