In the wake of executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated 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 team 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 secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the vow signifies an abrupt change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed 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 decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's backers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for foreign wars 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 prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged 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 capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued 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 censures of Russia after 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 leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood 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 lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – 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 proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
