Following executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building business.
In a remarkable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team featuring 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 secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" entails is uncertain, but the commitment represents an abrupt change of course for the president, rife with contradictions and significant obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US efforts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America First" international policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully revitalizing a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose governmental stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this will be no different. He pledged to recruit American oil firms to rebuild Venezuela's deteriorating 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 progress 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 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 altered Venezuela's destiny – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a diplomat, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is more than willing to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past actions, which have largely involved rockets and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan might prove difficult for some of Trump's backers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former 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 perpetual use of force and backing for foreign wars is justified because we are forced 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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "firm and legitimate".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his appearance, the president said the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed 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, land and resources that are core to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in international relations, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing shock and denouncing 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 centrist Republican congressman, voiced concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry catastrophic results for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of rights violations. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform congressional leaders before launching the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to follow the law and uphold institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" particulars of the operation before the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a success – with zero American casualties and minimal damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "one of the most astonishing, effective and impressive displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is gambling his presidency on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unclear. He and his administration must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for years while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
