In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the vow marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember 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."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is more than willing to use military force internationally.
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, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His goal, 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 could be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
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 reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without 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 questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be administering other countries for any reason," 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 consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with zero American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
