Trump Seeks Full U.S. Dominance in the Western Hemisphere

Donald Trump has always had a soft spot for the 19th century. His political idols remain Presidents William McKinley, who, as he puts it, “made the country rich through tariffs,” Theodore Roosevelt, who “did great things” like building the Panama Canal, and James Monroe — author of the doctrine rejecting “foreign interference in our continent and our affairs.”

These references are more than rhetorical flourishes. They reflect a deeper shift in the president’s strategic thinking — a move away from modern national security doctrines. Trump has become the first leader since Franklin Roosevelt to believe that America’s main threats come not from distant regions, but from within. In his view, the real dangers are posed by migrants crossing the border and drugs killing tens of thousands of Americans each year.

Hence his goal: to establish the United States’ unquestioned dominance across the entire Western Hemisphere — from the Arctic to Patagonia — using military and economic power to confront all “enemies,” both foreign and domestic.

Immigration lies at the heart of his agenda. Trump came to power arguing that previous administrations had failed to secure the southern border and promising to deport all migrants without legal status — about 11 million people. On his first day in office, troops were sent to the border to stop illegal crossings, and nationwide raids began — in churches, near schools, on farms, in factories, and even in hospitals. U.S. citizens have also found themselves on deportation lists. No one feels safe.

The admission of refugees has effectively come to a halt. People who were previously promised asylum remain stranded in third countries. Next year, the only quota will go to white South Africans, whom Trump has called “victims of genocide.” The flow of undocumented migrants has dried up, and many — both legal and illegal — are returning home. According to forecasts, 2025 will be the first year in nearly a century when net migration to the United States turns negative.

But migrants are not the only threat in Mr. Trump's view. He equates them with drugs. On February 1 the president imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China over shipments of fentanyl — although Canada is hardly involved in its production. Those tariffs remain in force. In August Mr. Trump ordered the military to fight the drug cartels, designating them "foreign terrorist organizations". "Latin America is full of cartels and drugs," he said. "We must protect our country."

Over the past two months the Pentagon has deployed significant naval and air forces and roughly 10,000 troops to intercept drug trafficking. In recent weeks the military has been ordered to attack small vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific suspected of carrying narcotics. To date 16 boats have been destroyed and more than 60 people killed.

Asked about the legality of such actions in international waters, Mr. Trump replied: "I think we will just kill the people who are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We'll kill them. They will, you know, just be dead."

The president has now set his sights on larger objectives. Late last month the Pentagon dispatched a carrier strike group led by the Gerald R. Ford to the Caribbean. When it arrives, roughly one-seventh of the US fleet will be concentrated in the region — the largest such assembly since 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

If the aim were solely to combat drug traffickers, such a deployment would be excessive. The true purpose, however, appears different: to intimidate or unseat leaders Mr. Trump deems illegitimate. The drug war is a pretext. The most obvious target is Nicolas Maduro, who retained power after elections widely denounced as fraudulent. The White House has labelled him "the illegitimate leader of an illegitimate regime," and Mr. Trump has warned that "ground operations in Venezuela will soon follow."

But Venezuela is not the limit of his ambitions. After Colombian president Gustavo Petro accused the United States of killing civilian fishermen, Mr. Trump cut off aid to the country and branded Petro a "drug lord," paving the way for a new confrontation.

All these moves and declarations underscore Mr. Trump’s guiding principle: the entire Western Hemisphere must belong to America. Those he dislikes he plans to topple; those whose policies he opposes he intends to punish economically. In his vision, Greenland would become part of the United States, the Panama Canal its property, and Canada the 51st state.

Such a worldview marks a rupture with nearly a century of US strategy, which focused on defending against external threats. In the twenty-first century Mr. Trump is reviving a nineteenth-century idea of security — one defined by unquestioned dominance over America’s neighbors.