Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled 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 unclear, but the commitment represents an abrupt change of course for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention 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 shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's prospects – 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 demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be hard 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 quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression 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 notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal 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 "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its incursion 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 moderate Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"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 learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success 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 turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
