Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now betting his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – 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 shown that he is quite prepared to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and backing for foreign wars 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 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 retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and resources 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 questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"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 catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold institutional 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 worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
