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 striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled 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 uncertain, but the pledge signifies an dramatic policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 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 reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved missiles 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 aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable 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, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump 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 national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are central to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global 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 Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics 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 said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating 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 putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with no American casualties and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team 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 planned for them.
