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 notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is unclear, but the commitment marks an abrupt shift in direction for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending 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 vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging 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 authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be hard for some of Trump's backers 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 denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she stated. "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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing 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 hemispheric security and provided a steady 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 goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." 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 affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying 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 precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved 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 condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
