In the wake of executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" actually means is unclear, but the pledge marks an sudden policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project 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 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 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 diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – 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 variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing 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 military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug 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 describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
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 peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal 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 administering 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 overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" details 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 assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
