In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building arena.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political 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 exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing funds 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're not afraid of 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: "You break it, you bought 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 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 airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to finance it," she stated. "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 drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared 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 never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning 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 unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be running 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 endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
