In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the vow signifies an sudden change of course for the president, rife with contradictions and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts 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 economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, 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 - slogan could be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she wrote. "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 cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic 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 preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault 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 trying to broker 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 main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American power 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 truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
