Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation including 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is unclear, but the vow represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, full of contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power 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 worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan could be difficult for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force 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 critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted 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 never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and resources that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following 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 moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
