In the wake of executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge represents an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 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: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging 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 use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to fund 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, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt 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".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered 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 free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar 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 moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," 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 regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders prior to initiating 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 demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
