Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge signifies an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his administration on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude 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 heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are notably distinct.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be tough for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to fund 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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms 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 supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and affect American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be more favourable 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 illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be administering 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 endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's decision not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American military might and competency in US history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a region that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
