Following executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an abrupt change of course for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", 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 successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit 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'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 intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed 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 redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "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 cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued 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 renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move 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 resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents 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 involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility 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, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive demonstrations of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
