Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US military 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 seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is ambiguous, but the vow signifies an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
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 funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention 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 shatter it, you are responsible for it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations 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 appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify 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 sharper.
"America should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating 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 putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
