In the wake of executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief 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, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the commitment marks an dramatic shift in direction for the president, rife with inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude 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 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: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of foreign wars 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 notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted 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 stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign 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 questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be running 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 consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
