Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to administer 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 uncertain, but the commitment represents an abrupt change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and significant challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding 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 told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could be difficult for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent 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 confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered 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 diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations 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 more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any reason," 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 overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal 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 American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
