Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
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 indicated 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the vow represents an sudden change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to progress 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 planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-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 missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending 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 prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be managing other countries for any reason," 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 overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders before launching 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 requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with no American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
