Venezuela Is Poised to Determine Trump's Legacy - and the United States' Role in the World

In the wake of executing a evening of shock and awe in Venezuela, Donald Trump now appears to be entering the state-building business.

In a notable media briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, the president stated that US forces had successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an late-night operation in Caracas.

Trump then announced that a group comprising Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, collaborating with Venezuelans, would be taking control of the beleaguered nation.

"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a secure, proper and judicious transition," he said.

What precisely "running the country" involves is ambiguous, but the pledge represents an sudden change of course for the president, laden with contradictions and daunting challenges.

A leader who campaigned against "forever wars", who vehemently denounced past US attempts at regime change and who vowed to implement an "America first" foreign policy is now betting his presidency on successfully reconstructing a South American nation whose economic system is in ruins and whose political stability has been undermined by years of dictatorship.

Yet, Trump was persistently optimistic.

He stated his administration has a "unblemished record of winning" – and that this would be no exception. He promised to recruit American energy companies to repair Venezuela's crumbling industrial infrastructure, providing capital for the American reconstruction efforts and benefitting the Venezuelan people.

He did not exclude sending American soldiers to Venezuela to advance 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 invasion of Iraq, will now have to consider the words of one of the American architects of the Iraq War, Secretary of State Colin Powell: "If you break it, you own it."

An Altered International Stance

The US has altered Venezuela's future – for better or worse.

Trump came to power nearly a year ago promising to be a peacemaker, but over the past year he has proven that he is quite prepared to use armed force worldwide.

In the past week, he authorized airstrikes on Syria and Nigeria. In 2025, he struck nuclear facilities in Iran, alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, rebel forces in Yemen, militias in Somalia and jihadist fighters in Iraq.

In contrast to past operations, which have largely involved missiles and aircraft that reduce the risk of American forces to harm, Trump's Venezuela operation – and his commitments to the future of that nation – are notably different.

His aim, he said during his briefing, is to "restore Venezuela's greatness."

Domestic and International Reaction

That variation of Trump's "Make America Great Again" – or Maga - mantra could be difficult for some of Trump's supporters to swallow.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump loyalist who broke with the president after charging him of deserting his core supporters, was quick to criticize the president's actions on social media.

"Americans' disgust with our own government's perpetual use of force and support of foreign wars is justified 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, compared the legal justification for Maduro's arrest – on arms and cocaine trafficking charges – with Trump's explanation that the operation was to retake confiscated US oil and stop fentanyl production.

Most Republican lawmakers supported the president, with House Speaker Mike Johnson characterizing the armed intervention against a "criminal regime" as "firm and warranted".

Policy Rationales and Worldwide Consequences

During his press conference, the president argued the Venezuelan operation advanced his "America First" agenda because it ensured US hemispheric security and provided a reliable source of oil.

He dusted off the Monroe Doctrine – an early 19th Century American diplomatic policy that asserted the Western Hemisphere should be without influence by European powers – and renamed it the "Trump Doctrine."

The move in Venezuela, Trump said, shows that "US preeminence in the Western Hemisphere will not be challenged again."

The goal of the new US security policy, he said, was to "protect commerce, territory and resources that are fundamental to our national security." He labeled the Western Hemisphere as America's "sphere of influence."

Trump's choice to capture Maduro will raise larger concerns in global politics, however, and impact American relations with the world's other major global powers.

The Chinese government released a statement expressing shock and denouncing what it said was a reckless assault on a sovereign nation.

During the Biden administration, the US offered comparable censures of Russia following its incursion of Ukraine. Now the Trump administration is attempting to broker a peace deal between those two nations – one that has frequently appeared to be leaning to the Russian side.

Don Bacon, a moderate Republican congressman, voiced concern about the message Trump's actions might send.

"My primary worry is now Russia will use this to excuse their illegal and barbaric operations against Ukraine, or China to justify an attack of Taiwan."

Opposition and Legal Scrutiny

Trump's Democratic critics were sharper.

"The United States should not be running 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 lawbreaker and a dictator with a record of human rights abuses. But he condemned Trump's choice not to inform legislative leaders before initiating the attack.

"Donald Trump has the legal duty to abide by the law and protect democratic norms in the United States," he said. "That is what placing America First demands."

Trump, in his remarks, explained that he chose not to inform Congress because he was worried they would "disclose" particulars of the operation before the attack.

A Path Forward Shrouded in Doubt

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 "one of the most astonishing, effective and powerful demonstrations of American power and competency in US history."

Now he is staking his legacy on that success continuing, as the US claims it will take over administering and reconstructing Venezuela - though what that truly entails remains unknown. He and his administration must fortify a nation that has been in turmoil for years while calming a region that is bound to be cautious of what Trump's foreign policy has planned for them.