In the wake of launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation including 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an dramatic change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to further 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-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 rockets and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to finance it," she stated. "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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize 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 Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders before launching 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 putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
