In the wake of executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered 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 "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the vow signifies an dramatic change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 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 break it, you own it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – 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 military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, 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 - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable 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 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 halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned 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 labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," 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 said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
