In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is ambiguous, but the commitment represents an dramatic policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing funds 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – 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 more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified 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, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" 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 ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off 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 "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar 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 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 primary concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"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 understood by now not to get entangled in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
