Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-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 apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the vow marks an dramatic change of course for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now betting his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, 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 overseas conflicts 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 prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th 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 "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the signal 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 opponents were blunter.
"The United States 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 catastrophic 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 initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
