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 news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a team including 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 safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is unclear, but the pledge represents an sudden policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention 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 altered 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 ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump critic, 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 confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" 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 guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from 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 not be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger questions in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal 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 opponents were more direct.
"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 involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
