Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising 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 manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" actually means is ambiguous, but the vow marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear 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 heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing 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 support of 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 detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing 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 hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared 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 challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
