Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had effectively apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is unclear, but the pledge represents an sudden change of course 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 promised to implement an "America First" international policy is now staking his presidency on effectively reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American energy companies to repair Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude 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 intervention 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."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump came to power nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike previous actions, which have largely involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was quick to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending use of force and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
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 explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric 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 without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and resources that are core to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to apprehend Maduro will provoke broader concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often 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 main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating results 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 consult with legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect 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.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most stunning, effective and impressive demonstrations of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
