Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation 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 run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "managing the nation" entails is ambiguous, but the pledge represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 future – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, 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 "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to finance 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, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate 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, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by 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 "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
