Following executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation comprising 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 administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" entails is ambiguous, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and significant challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took 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 armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to fund 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 reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and resources that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate 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 concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be administering 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 endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to launching 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 remarks, explained that he chose 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 assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
