In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the commitment marks an sudden shift in direction for the president, rife with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic 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: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure 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 "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be tough for some of Trump's backers 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 criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless 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. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said 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 nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe 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 "protect commerce, land and resources that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect 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" 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 typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration 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 in store for them.
