In the wake of launching a night of overwhelming force in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be getting into the state-building arena.
In a remarkable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president announced that US forces had successfully seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid in Caracas.
Trump then said that a delegation including 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 run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he said.
What precisely "governing the state" involves is unclear, but the pledge marks an abrupt policy reversal for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who sharply criticised past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" international policy is now staking his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose governmental stability has been eroded by years of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly optimistic.
He claimed his administration has a "perfect track record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's deteriorating industrial infrastructure, supplying funds for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying 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 planners of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you shatter it, you are responsible for it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's destiny – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago pledging to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has shown that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he ordered air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he targeted atomic sites in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and Islamic militants in Iraq.
In contrast to previous actions, which have mostly involved rockets and aircraft that reduce the exposure of American forces to danger, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his pledges to the future of that nation – are notably distinct.
His objective, he said during his briefing, is to "make Venezuela great again."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "MAGA" – or Maga - slogan may be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to digest.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump loyalist who split from the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was swift to criticize the president's actions on social media.
"Americans' disgust with our own government's endless military aggression and support of foreign wars is understandable because we are forced to finance it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong."
Another notable Trump critic, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, contrasted the official rationale for Maduro's arrest – on weapons and drug trafficking charges – with Trump's reasoning that the operation was to reclaim seized US oil and halt fentanyl production.
Most Republican lawmakers stood by 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 argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric 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 without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be challenged again."
The purpose of the new US national security strategy, he said, was to "safeguard commerce, land and assets that are central to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "backyard."
Trump's decision to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and affect American relations with the world's other significant global powers.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement voicing surprise and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.
During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable condemnations of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a ceasefire between those two nations – one that has often appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, expressed concern about the message Trump's actions might send.
"My main worry is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."
Political Criticism and Constitutional Questions
Trump's Democratic opponents were blunter.
"America should not be running other countries for any purpose," said a senator who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. "We should have learned 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 lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he censured Trump's decision not to inform legislative leaders prior to launching the attack.
"Donald Trump has the constitutional responsibility to abide by the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation prior to the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That mission was a triumph – with zero American deaths and limited harm to US assets. Trump, with his characteristic confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, effective and powerful displays of American military might and proficiency in US history."
Now he is staking his legacy on that victory continuing, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that actually means is unknown. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in turmoil for decades while stabilising a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has in store for them.
