Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the nation-building arena.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a group including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to administer the country until such time as we can do a safe, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the pledge marks an sudden policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now betting his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to enlist American oil firms to repair Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He left open the possibility of deploying 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 told reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to heed the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
In contrast to past actions, which have mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are strikingly different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That variation of Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's followers to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to fund it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and justified".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He revived the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger questions in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a sovereign nation.
During the previous administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be more favourable to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"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 devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker stated Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to consult with legislative leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and impressive displays of American power and proficiency in US history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
