The Trump administration unveiled a new national security strategy on Friday outlining a sharp reorientation of U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America, signaling what could become a long-term military presence in the Caribbean. The document, released by the White House, declares Washington’s intent to “reassert influence” across the Western Hemisphere while scaling back U.S. involvement in other global theaters.
According to the plan, the United States will “realign its global military presence to confront urgent threats in our Hemisphere, moving away from regions whose relative importance to American national security has declined in recent decades.” The strategy arrives amid a major military buildup near Venezuela, where U.S. forces have conducted naval exercises and air operations under the banner of anti-narcotics efforts.
The new approach formalizes an expansion of U.S. influence in Latin America and envisions a stronger, more permanent security footprint. It emphasizes renewed application of the Monroe Doctrine — the 19th-century policy asserting that the Americas belong to the Americans — to prevent “non-Western competitors” such as China from gaining a strategic foothold in the region.
A regional military blueprint
The national security plan defines three main pillars for the military realignment in Latin America:
• A broader deployment of the Coast Guard and Navy to control maritime routes, curb illegal migration and human trafficking, and secure transit corridors in times of crisis.
• Direct operations against drug cartels, including “the use of lethal force when necessary” to replace what the White House calls “decades of failed law-enforcement-only strategies.”
• The establishment or expansion of access points in strategic locations to support U.S. operations.
These measures, the document says, will “deny external competitors the ability to position threatening forces or control assets of strategic value within our Hemisphere.”
China, currently the largest trading partner for Brazil and several other Latin American countries, is singled out as Washington’s top geopolitical rival in the region. The Trump administration argues that Beijing’s growing influence is driven mainly by commerce rather than ideology but pledges to counter it through closer military and economic partnerships with like-minded governments.
“We will enlist established friends in the Hemisphere to control migration, disrupt drug flows, and strengthen stability on land and sea,” the document reads. “At the same time, we will cultivate new partners and reinforce the appeal of our nation as the preferred economic and security ally.”
Global repositioning beyond the Hemisphere
Beyond Latin America, the plan calls for “peace through strength,” higher defense spending, and a new generation of anti-missile systems known as the “Golden Dome.” It also envisions stronger coordination with Japan and South Korea to counter threats in the Indo-Pacific, with particular attention to Taiwan — the world’s leading producer of AI chips.
In Europe, the Trump administration accuses U.S. allies of “blocking progress” toward peace in Ukraine and urges them to shoulder greater defense costs. While pledging continued support for European security, the document portrays Washington’s new stance as one of selective engagement rather than global dominance.
In the Middle East, the plan cites the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities and ongoing peace efforts in Gaza as part of a strategy to “shift responsibilities to regional partners committed to combating extremism.”
The new U.S. National Security Strategy thus marks a decisive break from previous administrations, replacing decades of global expansionism with a hemispheric doctrine centered on power projection, migration control, and the containment of China.