In the wake of launching a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the nation-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US military forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and judicious transition," he said.
What exactly "running the country" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment signifies an abrupt change of course for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, providing financing for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out sending American soldiers to Venezuela to further 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 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 shatter it, you are responsible for it."
An Altered International Stance
The US has altered Venezuela's future – for better or worse.
Trump took office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has demonstrated that he is quite prepared to use armed force around the globe.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
Unlike previous operations, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that minimize the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
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 - slogan might prove hard for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning his core supporters, was swift to denounce the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of foreign wars is justified because we are compelled to pay for it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on weapons 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 characterizing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "firm and justified".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
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 resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and rebranded it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "home region."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in international relations, however, and impact American ties with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese government released a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed concern about the precedent Trump's actions might send.
"My primary 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."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be administering 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 devastating results 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 inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the legal duty to follow the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "leak" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with no American deaths and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that success enduring, as the US says it will take over running and rebuilding Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's international strategy has in store for them.
