Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the vow represents an abrupt shift in direction for the president, rife with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 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 break it, you own it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
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.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered 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 foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
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 peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America 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 entangled in endless wars and regime change missions 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 decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, 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 triumph – with zero American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
