Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" entails is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention 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 reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
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 reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without 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 "protect trade, territory and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal 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 precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," 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 said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – 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 competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
