In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a remarkable news conference 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 said that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working 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 precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American architects 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 entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be hard for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind 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 appearance, 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 foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are core to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting 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 concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
