Trump invokes ‘Donroe Doctrine’ to signal US designs on Western Hemisphere
President Donald Trump has embraced what he calls a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine — the “Donroe Doctrine.” It’s what he is using to justify the U.S. raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro while also asserting American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
“This is OUR Hemisphere,” Trump’s State Department declared in a social media post this week.
How Trump is reviving the Monroe Doctrine
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In what became known as the “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823, President James Monroe warned European powers against further colonization in the Americas.
Trump is tying a 19th-century warning against European empires in the Americas to a 21st-century focus on energy, trade and security.
The Monroe Doctrine, laid out in President James Monroe’s 1823 message to Congress, said the American continents were “henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” It further warned that European political expansion in the hemisphere would be “dangerous to our peace and safety,” while pledging U.S. noninterference in European affairs.
Over time, presidents expanded that doctrine to justify U.S. interventions in Latin America. Analysts told The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal that Trump is now updating that playbook, openly linking Maduro’s arrest and U.S. involvement in Venezuela to U.S. access to oil and commercial interests.
The New York Times reports that the Trump’s approach reinforces a world of competing spheres of influence that could bolster Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s claims to primacy in Asia.
In recent days, the president has embraced the portmanteau “Donroe,” apparently coined by a headline writer at the New York Post a year ago when Trump proposed annexing Canada and Greenland.
“They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine,’” Trump said Saturday at a news conference about the military action in Venezuela.
What Trump says the ‘Trump Corollary’ means
The AP reports that Trump justified the raid by accusing Maduro of violating longstanding U.S. foreign policy principles as well as engaging in transnational drug trafficking. Specifically, the president claimed Caracas was hosting foreign adversaries and acquiring menacing offensive weapons. Trump declared that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” the AP reported.
A recent national security strategy document described a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine that aims to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” through actions that include maritime strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats. Trump has framed Maduro’s removal in economic terms, touting “tremendous energy in that country” and saying, “We need that for ourselves.”
Trump’s rhetoric has gone beyond Venezuela. He has threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro and talked about taking back the Panama Canal and making Canada the 51st state. Top of mind for Trump, however, appears to be the acquisition of Greenland, which he sees as rich in resources and critical minerals, according to the Journal.
Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump, said this week that the U.S. has a right to take Greenland by force, if necessary.
In an interview with CNN, Miller described a new world order, headed by the U.S., “that is governed by force that is governed by power.”
“Those are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time,” he added.
From Caracas to Beijing: Reactions and risks
The Times reports that the U.S. assault on Caracas, carried out just hours after a senior Chinese envoy met Maduro at the presidential palace, highlighted the limits of Beijing’s influence in what Washington still sees as its backyard. The Times notes that the operation exposes the vulnerability of Beijing’s $10 billion in outstanding loans to Venezuela.
Scholars are debating what Trump’s use of Monroe-style language means for democracy and U.S. foreign policy.
University of Texas professor Gretchen Murphy told the AP that Trump is drawing on a pattern in which leaders cite the Monroe Doctrine to “legitimate interventions that undermine real democracy.”
However, historian Jay Sexton warned that a drawn-out occupation could fracture Trump’s base by contradicting his “America First” pledge to end long-term foreign entanglements.
Will the “Donroe Doctrine” outlast Trump?
Trump and his aides say the “Donroe Doctrine” will guide U.S. policy across the hemisphere while he is in office. The Journal reports that his national security strategy calls for a hemisphere “free of hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets.”
Analysts quoted by the Journal and the Times argue the doctrine may be too closely tied to Trump’s personal priorities to outlast his presidency. They say that additional operations justified under this banner — from the seizure of Maduro to potential pressure on other governments — could push the world toward a prewar-style system in which great powers treat neighboring states as arenas for their economic and security interests.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
