In the wake of launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had effectively seized 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 beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the vow represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and significant challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own 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 promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force worldwide.
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, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, 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 strikingly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off 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 "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and assets that are core to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal 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."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be running 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 involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
