Trump's "Donroe Doctrine" sets U.S. on great-power collision course
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President Trump is moving to eject America's adversaries from the Western Hemisphere, seizing on the momentum of an extraordinary show of force in Venezuela.
Why it matters: With allies and adversaries still reeling from the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, Trump is seeking to cement a new world order through strict enforcement of his "Donroe Doctrine."
- MAGA's modern take on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine casts the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence that will not tolerate encroachment by rival great powers.
- If they weren't already, adversaries like Russia, China and Iran — and even NATO ally Denmark, as it relates to control of Greenland — are now officially on notice.
Zoom in: The Coast Guard's seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic on Wednesday offered an early glimpse of what enforcing the Donroe Doctrine looks like in practice.
- The Trump administration alleges that the vessel was violating U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil. Moscow denounced the seizure as "outright piracy."
- Russian naval assets, including a submarine, were operating nearby during the interdiction — making it one of the most direct U.S. confrontations with Russian forces in years.
Zoom out: The seizure underscores how Trump's Venezuela intervention has struck at a hub of foreign influence built by U.S. adversaries.
- A senior Chinese envoy met with Maduro in Caracas the night before the U.S. raid, highlighting how closely Beijing had aligned itself with Venezuela's fallen strongman.
- The Trump administration is now pressing Venezuela's interim government to expel intelligence officers from Russia, China, Iran and Cuba, aiming to dismantle the foreign security networks that helped prop up Maduro's rule.
- Beijing and Moscow have both objected to the Maduro raid and subsequent U.S. moves to assert control in Caracas, but haven't yet taken any overt actions in response.
Between the lines: Critics of Trump's approach argue that normalizing spheres of influence reshapes the rules for everyone.
- If the U.S. asserts carte blanche in its own neighborhood, it may lose the credibility to oppose Chinese moves around Taiwan and the South China Sea — or Russia's aggression in Ukraine and NATO's eastern flank.
What to watch: The Donroe Doctrine doesn't necessarily stop at adversaries, as the unfolding crisis over Greenland shows.
- Dangling the threat of military force, Trump and his team are openly discussing what a "purchase" or transfer of control would look like — an idea that has deeply unsettled Denmark and NATO.
- The White House says Trump views Greenland as critical terrain in the great-power competition, citing growing Chinese investment interest and Russia's expanding footprint across the Arctic.
The bottom line: In trying to lock down America's neighborhood, Trump is intensifying a great-power contest that won't stay confined to the Western Hemisphere.
