In the wake of launching a night of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the nation-building business.
In a striking media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had effectively seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.
Trump then said that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, working with Venezuelans, would be seizing the reins of the embattled nation.
"We are going to manage the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and careful transition," he said.
What exactly "governing the state" involves is uncertain, but the pledge signifies an sudden shift in direction for the president, laden with inconsistencies and daunting obstacles.
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 betting his administration on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economy is collapsed and whose political stability has been undermined by decades of authoritarian rule.
Yet, Trump was unwaveringly upbeat.
He said his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this will be no exception. He vowed to recruit American energy companies to overhaul Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, supplying financing for the American rebuilding project and benefitting the Venezuelan people.
He declined to rule out deploying American soldiers to Venezuela to further these efforts. "We do not fear 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 heed the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "You break it, you bought it."
A Shift in Foreign Policy
The US has reshaped Venezuela's future – whether for good or ill.
Trump entered office nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is ready to use armed force internationally.
In the past week, he authorized air strikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, insurgent groups in Yemen, armed groups in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.
Unlike past 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 notably different.
His goal, he said during his press conference, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."
Reactions from Allies and Critics
That play on Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra might prove difficult for some of Trump's followers to swallow.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after accusing him of abandoning 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 backing for overseas conflicts is understandable because we are forced to pay for it," she wrote. "This is what many in Maga thought they voted to end. How mistaken we were."
Another prominent Trump detractor, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake seized US oil and stop fentanyl production.
The majority of Republican lawmakers rallied behind the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson describing the military action against a "criminal regime" as "decisive and warranted".
Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences
During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation furthered his "America First" priorities because it guaranteed US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.
He resurrected the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere should be free from influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Donroe Doctrine."
The action in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will not be questioned again."
The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "safeguard trade, territory 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 questions in international relations, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major military powers.
The Chinese government released a statement expressing shock and condemning what it said was a irresponsible assault on a independent country.
During the Biden administration, the US offered similar condemnations of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is trying to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has often seemed to be leaning to the Russian side.
Don Bacon, a centrist Republican congressman, voiced worry about the signal Trump's actions might send.
"My primary concern is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and brutal military actions against Ukraine, or China to rationalize an attack of Taiwan."
Opposition and Legal Scrutiny
Trump's Democratic critics were blunter.
"America should not be administering 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 involved in perpetual conflicts and overthrow attempts that carry catastrophic results 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 prior to initiating the attack.
"Donald Trump 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 requires."
Trump, in his remarks, explained that he opted not to inform Congress because he was concerned they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.
An Uncertain Future
That military operation was a success – with no American deaths and minimal damage to US equipment. Trump, with his typical confidence, described the operation as a "spectacular assault" and "among the most astonishing, successful and powerful displays of American military might and competency in American history."
Now he is betting his legacy on that victory enduring, as the US says it will assume responsibility for administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unclear. He and his team must rebuild a nation that has been in chaos for decades while calming a hemisphere that is sure to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.
