First came meetings with allies, including Britain’s foreign secretary and the European Union’s foreign policy chief. Then came the made-for-TV moment with President Trump introducing Juan Guaido as the “true and legitimate president of Venezuela” during his State of the Union address.

It was part of a policy rollout that included an Oval Office meeting, in which Guaido was told he could expect more U.S. pressure within 30 days to remove President Nicolas Maduro. It ended with sanctions being imposed on the state airline a couple of days later.