Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including 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 judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the pledge represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 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 destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has proven that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, 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 - mantra could be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated 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 "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker 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, expressed worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
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 understood 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 autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty 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 opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
