In the wake of launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation 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, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "managing the nation" actually means is uncertain, but the commitment represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project 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 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."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are notably different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, 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 reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its invasion 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, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"America should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" details of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
