Trump 2.0 refashions U.S. military muscle
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The USS Sampson docks at the Amador International Cruise Terminal in Panama City on Sept. 2. Photo: Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images
Deadly airstrikes and military buildups Americans usually associate with faraway wars are creeping closer to home, as the Trump administration amasses power on the southern border and in the Caribbean.
Why it matters: When, where and how the U.S. military is applied is morphing under Trump 2.0.
In the past few days alone:
- Vice President Vance said on X: "Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military."
- Venezuelan F-16s buzzed a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, one of many ships dispatched to counter trafficking and menace leader Nicolás Maduro.
- Politico reported the next national defense strategy will prioritize homeland security over competition with China, long recognized as the largest standing threat to the U.S.
- Ten F-35s were sent to Puerto Rico.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth likened drug-runners to al-Qaeda, after President Trump disclosed the killing of 11 people aboard a boat in international waters. (Both shared footage of the attack on social media; a subsequent congressional briefing was canceled.)
- And the Army said it would refresh its presence at the U.S.-Mexico border with troops from the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain divisions, among others.
Zoom in: The Indo-Pacific, Europe and Middle East have for decades dominated headlines. But new emphasis on the Western hemisphere has elevated the profile of Northern and Southern commands, which oversee a combined area stretching from Alaska to Chile to Greenland.
- Congress, in the meantime, has not authorized war with cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua. Smugglers are typically seen as criminals, not combatants; they are often captured, not bombed.
What they're saying: "If America is going to defend our vital interests in the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, and adopt a more robust U.S. military posture in Latin America, it will exacerbate existing shortfalls in U.S. military capacity," Bradley Bowman, an expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Axios.
- "If we take on additional military commitments and don't provide the Pentagon commensurate resources, readiness will erode," he said.
- "We have seen this movie before, and it is not a good one."
Go deeper: Hegseth: Venezuela mission won't stop "with just this strike"
