Following launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump seems to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a notable news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the commander-in-chief declared that US forces had effectively captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then announced that a team including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the embattled nation.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" actually means is ambiguous, but the commitment marks an sudden change of course for the president, full of contradictions and formidable challenges.
A leader who ran on opposing "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at overthrowing governments and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now gambling his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is in shambles and whose governmental stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was relentlessly upbeat.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no different. He promised to recruit American oil firms to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating production infrastructure, providing financing for the American rebuilding project and aiding the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out 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 sharp critic of the US invasion of Iraq, will now have to remember the words of one of the American architects 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 – for better or worse.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use military force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela strike – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are notably different.
His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Response at Home and Abroad
That twist on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove tough for some of Trump's backers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of deserting his political base, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and backing for overseas conflicts is justified because we are forced to fund it," she stated. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and halt fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the armed intervention against a "illegitimate government" as "decisive and warranted".
Strategic Justifications and Global Implications
During his press conference, the president said the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a steady source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without 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 never be questioned again."
The goal of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are core to our security interests." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's choice to capture Maduro will provoke broader questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement expressing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless attack on a independent country.
During the previous administration, the US offered similar censures of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their unlawful and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic opponents were more direct.
"America should not be running other countries for any reason," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have understood by now not to get involved in endless wars and regime change missions that carry devastating consequences 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 consult with legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect institutional norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his press conference, said that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "leak" details of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his characteristic bravado, portrayed the operation as a "daring raid" and "among the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in American history."
Now he is gambling his legacy on that success continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his team must fortify a nation that has been in chaos for years while calming a hemisphere that is bound to be wary of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
