Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising 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 secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" involves is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 consider the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped 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 shown that he is more than willing 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 narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be difficult for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to finance 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, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms 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 supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded 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 trade, land and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing 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 regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility 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 chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American casualties and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
