Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
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, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered 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 "running the country" involves is unclear, but the commitment marks an dramatic shift in direction for the president, laden with contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of 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 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 future – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – 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."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to finance it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent 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.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without 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 not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions 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 purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with no American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, successful and impressive displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
