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 notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working 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 safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" involves is uncertain, but the pledge marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He pledged to enlist American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to progress 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 Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared 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, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets 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 notably different.
His objective, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Domestic and International Reaction
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra could be tough for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts 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 notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting 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, voiced concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
