In the wake of executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering 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 successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We do not fear 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 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 reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, 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."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of deserting 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 overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention 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 ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move 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 trade, land and resources that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States 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 entangled 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 human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
