In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building business.
In a striking press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had successfully apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, rife with contradictions and formidable obstacles.
A president who ran on opposing "endless conflicts", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now gambling his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been eroded by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating production 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 advance these efforts. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed 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: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's prospects – for better or worse.
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 armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably different.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan might prove tough for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are compelled to pay for 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, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake 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 "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, 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 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 action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence 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 labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack 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 broker 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 message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success continuing, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a region that is sure to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
