Following executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating 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, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an abrupt shift in direction for the president, full of contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We're not afraid of 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 remember 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 reshaped 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 demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan may be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off 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 "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire 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 message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions 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 learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts 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 censured Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for 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 bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
