Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing 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 late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying 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 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: "You break it, you bought it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous operations, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His goal, 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 might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for foreign wars is justified 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 arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from 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 national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and resources that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire 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 signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be running 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 devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
