Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an sudden change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 vocal opponent of the US invasion 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."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – 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 shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes 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 mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably distinct.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced 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, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures 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 frequently seemed 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 justify their illegal and barbaric operations 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 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 perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect 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 mission was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.