Following executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is uncertain, but the pledge marks an dramatic shift in direction for the president, full of inconsistencies and significant 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" foreign policy is now staking his administration on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered 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 military force worldwide.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are notably distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be hard for some of Trump's backers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of abandoning his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she wrote. "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 reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." 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 impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and condemning what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's choice not to consult with legislative 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 placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said 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 no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
