Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the pledge signifies an abrupt change of course for the president, full of contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 consider 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 future – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use military 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, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified 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 notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation 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 describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, 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 dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and resources that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise larger questions in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before initiating 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 press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
