In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a delegation featuring 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 manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" involves is unclear, but the vow marks an dramatic shift in direction for the president, rife with contradictions and daunting challenges.
A president who campaigned against "endless conflicts", who sharply criticised past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital 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'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: "You break it, you bought it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force worldwide.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that minimize the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove hard for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his political base, was swift to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug 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 characterizing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it ensured US regional 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 action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are core to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to apprehend Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"America should not be running 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 endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a autocrat with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with congressional leaders before initiating 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 putting America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that victory continuing, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.