Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment marks an abrupt shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 remember the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to fund 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, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted 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 "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military 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 previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
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 Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect democratic 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 worried they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
