In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working 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 secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" actually means is uncertain, but the vow marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 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: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be hard for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted 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.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action 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" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted 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 supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, 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 provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results 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 choice not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
