In the wake of launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had successfully captured 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 taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" involves is unclear, but the pledge represents an dramatic shift in direction for the president, full of inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear 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 consider the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in global politics, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"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 perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
