Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating 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 safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the vow signifies an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished 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 rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic 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 "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating 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 choice not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President 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 remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, 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 staking his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
