Following launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the troubled 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 "running the country" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He vowed to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are markedly different.
His goal, 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 might prove hard for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from 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 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 prominent Trump critic, 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 reclaim seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive 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 hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are core 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 international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were more direct.
"America should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
