In the wake of executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" involves is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress 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 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 reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "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 arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda 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 without 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 questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are core to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing 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 incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
