In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a group comprising 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 run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" entails is uncertain, but the vow signifies an dramatic policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and daunting challenges.
A president 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 staking his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending 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 sharp critic 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 break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is ready to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-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 largely involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be hard for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified 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 notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and assets that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be administering 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 overthrow attempts that carry devastating 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 inform congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
