In the wake of executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced 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 featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" entails is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an dramatic change of course for the president, full of contradictions and daunting obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, 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 future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be tough for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to finance it," she stated. "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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, land and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock 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 incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
