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 remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating 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, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" entails is ambiguous, but the pledge marks an sudden policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and daunting challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed 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 break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power 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 worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression 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. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and resources that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent 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 rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"America should not be administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts 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 decision not to consult with legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
