In the wake of launching a evening 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 stated that US forces had effectively 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, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the pledge marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of sending American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention 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 destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took 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 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 aircraft that minimize the risk 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 briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan could 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 accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence 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 resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and protect 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.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
