The “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine” defines geopolitics and change in the Americas

By: Carlos Sánchez Berzaín - 07/12/2025

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The changes taking place in the Americas due to political and military actions by the United States have just been clearly explained in the “National Security Strategy of the United States of America” which defines foreign policy, international relations and changes geopolitics with the “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine”.

The Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed by President James Monroe on December 2, 1823, is a principle of U.S. foreign policy that holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers from other continents is a potentially hostile act against the United States. It was proclaimed against European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere when the Spanish colonies in the Americas had achieved, or were in the process of achieving, their independence.

The “Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine” is the conclusion, the consequence of the Monroe Doctrine applied to current objective reality. During the 21st century, the Western Hemisphere has suffered the penetration of countries, powers, and even extra-continental terrorist groups, which, by supporting and participating in the expansion of dictatorships in Latin America, have jeopardized the national security of the United States with threats, aggressions, and operations using “Hybrid Warfare” mechanisms such as forced migration, narcoterrorism, human trafficking, criminal groups, interference in and participation in domestic politics, actions aimed at cultural change, and more.

A strategy is “a regulated process, a set of rules that seek an optimal decision at any given time,” and the United States strategy establishes principles that no one should ignore: “Precise Definition of National Interest, Peace Through Strength, Predisposition to Non-Intervention, Flexible Realism, Primacy of Nations, Sovereignty and Respect, Balance of Power, Pro-American Worker, Competition and Merit.” It also outlines priorities: “The era of mass migration is over, Burden Sharing and Transfer, Readjustment Through Peace, Economic Security.”

The text of the National Security Strategy states that “the United States will reaffirm and implement the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere and protect our homeland and access to key geographies throughout the region. We will deny non-hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere. The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine is a sensible and forceful restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.”

Without mentioning any specific country, the principle the United States has established—and has been applying—with Trump 47 is to restore its preeminence in the Americas to protect its national security, which necessitates the elimination of narco-states and dictatorships. The original purpose of the Monroe Doctrine, applied to European powers in 1823, is today the foreign policy principle applied to China, Russia, Iran, and their regional proxies—the dictatorships of 21st-century socialism: Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. These countries are controlled by organized crime, employ state terrorism, and are declared enemies of the United States, waving the banner of anti-imperialism while ultimately resulting in capitulation.

The Trump Corollary states that “our goals for the Western Hemisphere can be summarized as ‘Recruit and Expand.’” It explains that “We will recruit established allies in the Hemisphere to control migration, stop drug trafficking, and strengthen stability and security on land and sea. We will expand by cultivating and strengthening new partners, while reinforcing our nation’s attractiveness as the hemisphere’s preferred economic and security partner.”

The geopolitical shift is clarified by noting that “Non-hemispheric competitors have made significant incursions into our hemisphere, both to harm us economically in the present and to harm us strategically in the future. Allowing these incursions without a firm response is another major US strategic error of recent decades.”

Power relations among states in the Western Hemisphere and between states outside the hemisphere and those in the Americas are changing as the United States acts to regain its regional preeminence, which is not possible without ending the narco-terrorist dictatorships and the consequent demise of para-dictatorial governments. The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine makes the rules explicit, emphasizes sovereign rights, and sets limits to prevent being trampled upon—it “draws the lines.”

*Lawyer and Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy

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