Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the commitment represents an sudden shift in direction for the president, full of contradictions and significant challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We're not afraid of 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: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved rockets 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 distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra may be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of 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 advanced 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 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 "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible 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 broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any purpose," 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 regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. 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 demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with no American casualties and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
