Donald Trump’s decision to snatch Nicolas Maduro and his wife completed a largely smooth military operation. His choice of General Dan Caine as the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appeared to be an excellent decision. Technically, it went off without a hitch, but the politics are murky.

What Trump did, however, was not without precedent in American history, even of the most recent variety. Joe Biden’s administration did not recognize Maduro’s government because they believed it was illegitimate due to vote rigging. Trump added the charge of drug trafficking even though he recently pardoned a former Honduran president who had been convicted, even though an American court tried him for doing just that.

But the most significant error Trump made was his contention that Venezuela “stole the oil.” Actually, the oil nationalization took effect on January 1, 1976, following an agreement with the administration of President Gerald R. Ford and his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. President Carlos Andres Perez, a democratically elected leader, was a good friend of the United States.

Trump is hardly alone among US presidents in making claims about South American Republics. President Woodrow Wilson once said he only wanted Latin Americans to “elect good men.” Also shaping US responses was the “Monroe Doctrine,” which claimed that the United States had sovereignty over the Western Hemisphere.

However, the greatest asserter of US supremacy was Theodore Roosevelt, who added “a corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine. This allowed him to intervene in the Venezuelan and Dominican Republic debt crisis of 1902-1903, 1904, and 1905. Now, Trump has nothing over TR when it came to the performative art of diplomacy. He claimed he was trying to keep Great Britain, Germany, and Italy out of America’s sphere of influence. In reality, he did not lift a finger when the European powers forced both countries to cede substantial tariff revenue to repay European creditors. It was rather sordid, but Roosevelt did it in the name of “civilization.”

Which makes Trump’s post-strike proposals a curiosity. He flat-out claims the US will run the country, ignoring Venezuela’s official opposition. However, he is basking in the glory of triumph. No doubt he would love to be depicted waving a saber over his head, TR style. But the circumstances are a bit different.

It is more open than the usual response to kill for the right reason. Trump is simply American diplomacy without the mask of moral pretense. Trump did refer to the “Iron Laws” of power. Again, for some, it is queasy, but it is straightforward. However, he seems to suggest he might be committed to nation-building.

Trump should tread lightly on this perilous course.