In the wake of executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising 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 secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an dramatic change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts 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 economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress 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 consider 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved missiles 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 twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough 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 abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to finance 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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine 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 military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision 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 placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
