In the wake of executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears 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 announced that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group 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 run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is ambiguous, but the vow signifies an dramatic shift in direction for the president, full of 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 administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
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 repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 informed 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 altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes 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 Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges 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 variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to fund 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 reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived 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 "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following 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 leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"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 endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American casualties and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
