In the wake of launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a striking 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 indicated that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the pledge marks an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He vowed to recruit 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 sending 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups 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 commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan may be tough for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign 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 preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources that are central to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties 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 attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared 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 primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be running 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 perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
