Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group 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 run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the pledge signifies an dramatic shift in direction for the president, full of contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully 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 optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan could be hard for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to finance 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, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not 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 "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after 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 moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory continuing, 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 strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
