In the wake of launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building arena.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively apprehended 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, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the commitment represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, full of contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American architects 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 altered Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with 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 endless use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to finance 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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal military actions 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 administering other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences 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 initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility 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 press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.