In the wake of executing a evening of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be entering the state-building arena.
In a striking news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president announced that US military forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be assuming control of the troubled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, orderly and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" involves is unclear, but the vow represents an abrupt policy reversal for the president, full of inconsistencies and formidable challenges.
A president who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US efforts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America First" foreign policy is now staking his presidency on successfully rebuilding a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling production infrastructure, supplying funds for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He did not exclude 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 informed reporters.
Trump, a sharp critic of the US intervention of Iraq, will now have to remember 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 Changed Global Approach
The US has reshaped Venezuela's prospects – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered 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 military force around the globe.
In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites 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 mostly involved missiles and warplanes that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His goal, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Domestic and International Reaction
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's followers to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to condemn the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless use of force and support of overseas conflicts is justified because we are compelled to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers stood by the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and legitimate".
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 steady 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 rebranded it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US supremacy in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, land and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He branded the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other significant military powers.
The Chinese government issued a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to mediate a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has frequently seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, expressed worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"The United States should not be managing other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. "We should have understood by now not to get entangled in endless wars and overthrow attempts that carry devastating consequences for Americans."
Another senior Democratic lawmaker said Maduro is a lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders before launching 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 putting America First demands."
Trump, in his remarks, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt
That military operation was a success – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American power and competency in US history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails is unknown. He and his team must strengthen a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be apprehensive of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
