In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment represents an abrupt shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now betting his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning 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 support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to finance 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, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." 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 impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"The United States 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 involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with 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 press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
