Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the commitment represents an sudden shift in direction for the president, full of contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded 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 exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We do not fear 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 consider the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have largely involved missiles 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 strikingly distinct.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on 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 split from the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification 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 characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action 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 "protect trade, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations 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 more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," 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 dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted 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 triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
