Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the pledge represents an sudden change of course for the president, rife with contradictions and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to heed 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of 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 split from the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional 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 free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced worry about the precedent 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 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President 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 press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
