In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working 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 secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is uncertain, but the pledge signifies an sudden policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying 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 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 break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing 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 narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist 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 support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump critic, 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 stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention 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" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted 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 preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and assets that are central to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following 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 centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify 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 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 endless wars 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 decision not to consult with legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
