Following executing a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" entails is unclear, but the commitment signifies an dramatic change of course for the president, full of contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying 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 sharp critic 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be difficult for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression 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 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 seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted 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 supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are central 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 affect American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault 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 broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message 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 invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"The United States 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 overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
