Following executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces 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 exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be difficult for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of foreign wars 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 detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared 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.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion 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 Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose 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 military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.