Team America is back! And keeping with history, has no real plan

The successful seizure and removal of President Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela demonstrates Washington’s readiness to use every means at its disposal — including military power — to stave off any diminishment of U.S. national influence in its bid to manage the dissolution of the celebrated postwar, liberal order.

For the moment, the rules-based order (meaning whatever rules Washington wants to impose) persists in the Western Hemisphere. As President Donald Trump noted, “We can do it again. Nobody can stop us. There’s nobody with the capability that we have.”

Put differently, “Team America” is back!

The question is what happens next? How will Washington consolidate its latest victory over Maduro and his regime? The plan seems murky if non-existent.

Presumably, Maduro will be tried and convicted in a U.S. court for drug-related crimes. Meanwhile Trump said Saturday that the U.S. will “take over” during the transition. Can Washington actually set up a new political order that will prevent Venezuela from sliding into civil war, or, more important, from hosting future drug-fueled violence?

President Trump said that opposition leader Maria Machado lacks the political strength to govern Venezuela. So who does that leave? Is there a CIA-preferred comprador for the job, or will Secretary of State Marco Rubio simply govern as an American Viceroy? In any case, can anyone — Venezuelan or American — govern the country without heavy reliance on U.S. Military power?

Meanwhile American firms and corporations are chomping at the bit to move into Venezuela to extract its oil. In addition to the world’s largest reserves (the oil infrastructure is decaying and it will take a long time to rebuild), Venezuela is massively endowed with gold and one of the largest iron ore deposits in the Western Hemisphere. To these must be added significant reserves of natural gas, bauxite, nickel and some rare earths. No doubt the exploitation of these mineral resources will be seen as vital if the current intervention is to avoid the usual catastrophic costs associated with military intervention.

But will Washington now provide a lucrative economic package to lift Venezuela out of poverty and chaos? Will it be at American taxpayers' expense? Shipments of Venezuelan heavy crude constitute most of the Venezuelan economy. Venezuela is in the top 5 exporters of heavy crude, but by total volume, Venezuela barely cracks the top 20.

Protests from Moscow and Beijing notwithstanding, neither the Russians nor Chinese will directly interfere with events in the Caribbean Basin. The fact that Maduro was meeting with Chinese officials just 24 hours before he was captured is no doubt deeply disconcerting to Beijing. China might accelerate its liquidation of American debt with uncertain consequences for the American bond market. But Russian and Chinese leaders will not repeat Western stupidity in Ukraine and challenge American military power on its doorstep. The home court strategic advantage is undeniable.

Whatever happens next, the short-term impact of Maduro’s capture conveniently distracts from the Trump administration’s failed attempts to end the war in Ukraine on terms that might benefit Washington and its allies. In fact, the Trump administration is likely to quietly disengage from these efforts while Moscow turns its attention entirely to ending the war in Ukraine on its own terms.

Meanwhile, the ceasefire Trump brokered with a flourish earlier this year has not halted the destruction of life in Gaza. In the background, Iran’s missile factories are humming again having recovered from the 12-day war in June 2025. U.S. and Israeli strikes have set back Iran's nuclear ambitions but Israel won’t soon forget Iran’s ability to hit back with counterstrikes on Israeli soil. Not surprisingly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now pushes for fresh strikes before Iranian silos swell to 1,000 warheads a year, enough to overwhelm U.S. and Israeli air and missile defenses.

President Trump warns there will be “hell to pay” if Iran rebuilds. The president who promised to “end forever wars” now advocates for the next Middle East war, too.

At home, progress in a range of critical areas from living standards and educational performance to high-tech manufacturing is slow to non-existent. Inflated expectations of faster productivity growth through artificial intelligence are flagging. There is no evidence for any interest in breaking up overgrown, monopolistic media and IT corporations, or stopping mergers aimed at shaping narratives and suppressing free speech.