Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team featuring 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 safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an sudden shift in direction for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding 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 sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects 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 altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified 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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug 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 characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker 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 worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States should not be administering 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 perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold 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 worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over 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 international strategy has in store for them.
