Following executing a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building business.
In a notable press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief announced that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" actually means is uncertain, but the vow marks an abrupt change of course for the president, full of contradictions and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who promised to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now gambling his administration on effectively rebuilding a South American nation whose economic system is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly confident.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to rebuild Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying 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 do not fear boots on the ground…we had boots on the ground last night," he informed reporters.
Trump, a vocal opponent 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: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has redefined Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump took office nearly a year ago promising 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 air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, suspected drug-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 danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the fate of that nation – are markedly different.
His aim, he said during his press conference, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra may be hard for some of Trump's supporters to accept.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Public outrage with our own government's endless use of force and backing for foreign wars is understandable because we are compelled to pay for it," she wrote. "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 official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US regional security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an nineteenth-century American diplomatic policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and assets that are fundamental to our security interests." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise broader concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following 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 more favourable 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 justify their unlawful and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an invasion of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were sharper.
"The United States should not be administering other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have learned by now not to get involved in perpetual conflicts and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a criminal and a autocrat with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.
"The President has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what putting America First demands."
Trump, in his press conference, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" details of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That mission was a triumph – with zero American casualties and limited damage to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, successful and powerful demonstrations of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is staking his presidency on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means remains unclear. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be apprehensive of what Trump's international strategy has planned for them.
