Following launching a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then indicated that a group including 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 secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "running the country" involves is uncertain, but the vow marks an dramatic policy reversal for the president, laden with contradictions and significant challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who promised to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to enlist American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to advance these efforts. "We do not fear 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 heed the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has shown that he is quite prepared to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have largely involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are markedly distinct.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be difficult for some of Trump's backers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of abandoning his political base, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification 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 "illegitimate government" as "firm and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are central to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to mediate a ceasefire 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 message Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics 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 endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American power and proficiency in American history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a region that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
