In the wake of executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the nation-building business.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group comprising 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, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge represents an abrupt change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We do not fear 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 remember 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."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven 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, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – 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."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared 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 supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible 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 peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse 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 more direct.
"America should not be running 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 perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says 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 chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
