In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated 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 secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the pledge marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
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, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable 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 prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without 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 not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars 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 censured Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders before launching 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 putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
