In the wake of launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group featuring 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 administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the pledge represents an abrupt change of course for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now betting his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 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."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
