WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Donald Trump declared Saturday’s military operation that led to the ouster of Nicolás Maduro a major success as he offered a vague plan for his administration “to run” Venezuela until a transition of power can take place.

While there are no visible signs of a US presence on the ground in Caracas, Trump was demonstrating the chutzpah that’s become the trademark of his foreign policy approach. It’s one marked by a grand confidence that his will on the international stage is an immovable force.

“This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history,” Trump declared at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The president strode into office last year with a promise to turn the page on the US’s decades of foreign entanglements. But on Saturday, he committed the US to help Venezuela usher in a period of “peace” and “justice” after decades of rule by strongmen.

The president’s commitment to a Venezuela project comes as he finds himself struggling to bring about a permanent peace between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and find an endgame to Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

But the path ahead is treacherous. The White House will need to grapple with any power vacuum caused by Maduro’s ouster and inevitable complications of trying to maintain stability in a country that’s already endured years of hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages, and brain drain despite its vast oil wealth.

It also remains to be seen what lessons US adversaries may take from Trump’s decision to demonstrate American might in its sphere of influence in the aftermath of Trump’s play in Caracas. China’s Xi Jinping has vowed to annex the self-ruled island of Taiwan, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin has designs on neighboring Ukraine, and diminishing NATO’s eastern flank.

Yet Trump was unflinching in his confidence that the bad actors of the old government will be pushed aside as he helps make Venezuela “great again.” He also sought to reassure American taxpayers that they won’t be on the hook for his plan to help out Caracas.

“The money coming out of the ground is very substantial,” Trump said.........

© The Times of Israel