Following launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is unclear, but the pledge signifies an sudden change of course for the president, full of contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of 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, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, 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 resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating 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 legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect institutional 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 concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
