Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team 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 safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A president 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 presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
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 reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda 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 asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and resources that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results 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 legislative leaders prior to 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 placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
