In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation 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 seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the commitment signifies an dramatic change of course for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention 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 redefined Venezuela's destiny – 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 military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, 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 reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, 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 revived 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 action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said 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 success – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over 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 hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
