In the wake of executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully apprehended 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 taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is ambiguous, but the vow signifies an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of 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 planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – 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 demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play 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 ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of 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 detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action 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, territory and assets that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal 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."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
