Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" involves is unclear, but the pledge marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
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 military force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she wrote. "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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be running 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic 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 inform congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
