Following launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief stated that US military forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" actually means is unclear, but the commitment represents an abrupt change of course for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A president who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude sending 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump entered 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 airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that minimize the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are strikingly distinct.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan 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 denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to fund it," she stated. "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 explanation that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his appearance, 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 revived the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move 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 "protect trade, land and resources that are central to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will provoke broader concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to justify 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.
"America 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry catastrophic consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
