In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team featuring 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" entails is ambiguous, but the commitment represents an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending American soldiers to Venezuela to progress 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 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging 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 targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be tough for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to fund 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 weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation 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 warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda 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 "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 "safeguard commerce, territory and resources that are central to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold democratic 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 "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
