Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is unclear, but the pledge signifies an dramatic change of course for the president, full of contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US invasion 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 reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready 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, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan may be hard for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
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.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured 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 "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message 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 opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
