In the wake of executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent 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: "If you break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are notably different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn 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 pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying 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, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned 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 lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President 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, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with no American casualties and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
