In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building business.
In a remarkable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president declared that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" entails is uncertain, but the commitment signifies an dramatic shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on effectively revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He stated his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of 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 vocal opponent 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 future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck atomic sites in Iran, suspected narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to past operations, which have mostly involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are strikingly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove hard for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after accusing him of abandoning his political base, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's never ending military aggression and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop 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 argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, territory and assets that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal operations 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 entangled in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry devastating results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a criminal and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform congressional leaders prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a triumph – with no American casualties and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most astonishing, successful and impressive displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success enduring, as the US claims it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be wary of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
