In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president declared that US military forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising 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 administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is unclear, but the commitment represents an dramatic shift in direction for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", 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 governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to enlist American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting 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 vocal opponent 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 shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to finance 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 legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop 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 press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared 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 questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to justify 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 blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts 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 congressional leaders prior to 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 press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, portrayed the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
