Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had successfully seized 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 seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the vow represents an dramatic change of course for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is more than willing to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be difficult for some of Trump's backers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified 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 critic, 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 reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional 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 "Donroe 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 "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar 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 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 unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow 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 military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must rebuild 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.
