Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled 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 "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge represents an abrupt change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed 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."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to criticize 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 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, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action 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 "safeguard commerce, territory and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations 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 appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics 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 involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose 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 minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
