WASHINGTON — If the first year ofPresident Donald Trump'ssecond term was focused onbrokering peacedealsaround the globe, his sophomore year is gearing up to be one that emphasizes American military power.
That begins with challenging nations in America's backyard, from adversaries such as Venezuela and Cuba to partners like Colombiaand Mexicothat Trump wants to more forcefully address narcotics trafficking and illegal migration to the United States. It's becominga political sore spotfor Trump, whose foreign foraysare beginning to frustratesome lawmakers in his own party.
After arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a deadly raidon their compoundin Caracas, Trump and top U.S. officials warned that other countries in the Western Hemisphere and beyond could be the next targets of U.S. intervention.
President Donald Trump, alongside (L/R), CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaks to the press following US military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2025.The U.S. "successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
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President Trump addresses the nation after military action in Venezuela
President Donald Trump, alongside (L/R), CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaks to the pressfollowing US military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2025.
The U.S. "successfully carried outa large scale strike against Venezuelaand its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The list includes Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark, and Iran, which the U.S. bombed last summer. Trump recently threatened to"knock the hell"out of Tehran andsaid America is"locked and loaded and ready to go" if the regime uses deadly force against protesters.
Current and former Trump administration officials say more U.S. military action could very well be in the offing.
"I think he is serious about all these things," Victoria Coates, who served as deputy national security adviser to Trump in his first administration, said of the president.
She called Greenland and the Panama Canal, which Trump has previouslytalked about reclaimingfrom the Central American country, as "almost strategic imperatives" for the U.S. to acquire.
"I don't think he felt he was getting very much traction and now wants them to pay attention to this, that he is serious, that he will take action if pushed," Coates said of Denmark.
More:Trump discussing Greenland purchase, not ruling out military action
She said the Greenland and Panama Canal disputes are "much more likely" to be resolved diplomatically than through force. However, the administration refused this week to rule out using the militaryto take over Greenland,a former Danish colony that's been under home rule since 1979. Trump has sought to acquire the Arctic territory since his first term.
"I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way," Trump told reporters on Jan. 9.
The president has intentionally remained ambiguous about how far he's willing to go to make nations that are irking him fall in line.
Maduro "effed around" and found out, Defense SecretaryPete Hegsethsaid at a Jan. 3 news conference with Trump, hours after his capture.
"This is America first. This is peace through strength," the Pentagon chief said. "Welcome to 2026."
In the last month, the U.S. has carried out strikes against Islamist terrorist targets in Syriaand Nigeria, in addition to the attack on Venezuela. Trump said this week if militants in Nigeria kill more Christians, what he hoped would be a one-off"will be a many-time strike"inside the West African nation.
Trump has also suggested that several other nations, much closer to home, could become his next targets.
Cuba is a "failing nation" that's "very similar" to Venezuela, he said of the communist country. Colombia is a "very sick" country, he charged, and "run by a sick man."
Trump accused Colombia's democratically-elected president, Gustavo Petro, of "making cocaine and selling it to the United States" and proclaimed on Jan. 4, "He's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you."
Petro, a leftist who has clashed with Trump,responded thatthe U.S. presidentshould stop "slandering"him. He haspreviously rejected Trump's accusationsthat he is involved in the drug trade and his governmentcollaborates with the DEA.
"Mexico has to get their act together," Trump said at another point, referring to his belief that the neighboring country's government could do more to stop drug trafficking to the United States. "And we're going to have to do something."
Backing him up was close ally and hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham, who stood beside Trump on Air Force One as the president fielded questions from the press.
"You just wait for Cuba," Graham chimed in. "Their days are numbered. We're going to wake up one day, I hope in '26, in our backyard, we're going to have allies in these countries, doing business with America, not narcoterrorist dictators killing Americans."
The Republican who represents South Carolina then declared: "This is a big fricking day. And everybody in the world is thinking differently than they were just a few days ago, because of what you did."
More:Marco Rubio, who dreamed of ousting Venezuela's Maduro, takes charge
Venezuela is still the most ripe for additional action, former U.S. officials say, with Trump pledging to make interim President Delcy Rodriguez"pay a big price"if she doesn't cooperate with his administration. He said on Jan. 9 that he canceled a planned second wave of attacks and no longer thought they would be necessary.
"I don't think we're going to see any likely in the next few days or weeks, but certainly that's an option that remains on the table," said Christopher Hernandez-Roy, a former senior leader in the Organization of American States, a multinational body that aims to strengthen peace and security in the western hemisphere.
Hernandez-Roy noted that Trump has also told Petro, of Colombia, he needs to "watch his undefined" and sounded offon Mexicoand Denmark, as the U.S. sought to maximize its leverage following the strike on Venezuela.
In the case of Mexico, Trump is likely trying to squeeze further concessions from President Claudia Sheinbaum's government on migration, fentanyl and trade.
"So are we likely to see more acts in the near future? I personally don't think so, but with the action in Venezuela, the president has signaled that he is in fact willing to use force to achieve certain objectives. And that puts a whole bunch of adversaries and even some friends on notice," said Hernandez-Roy, who worked on Venezuela at OAS during Trump's first administration.
'The Donroe Doctrine'
Trump laid out his approach to the region that haslong been a focus ofSecretary of State Marco Rubio's in the administration'sNational Security Strategy, a 29-page document the White House released in December to little fanfare.
The goal is for the Western Hemisphere to remain "reasonably stable and well-governed enough" to discourage mass migration to the United States" and free from "hostile foreign incursion or ownership" of core assets, strategic locations and critical supply chains.
It goes on to say the United States will "assert and enforce" its modern day take on the Monroe Doctrine, an early 19th century proclamation which holds that the U.S. will stop any foreign power from interfering in the Americas. Trump's administration argues that adversaries such as China are exercising undue influence in Latin American countrieslike Venezuelaand the Panama Canal.
Trump has begun publicly referring to his aggressiveposture as the Donroe Doctrineand said it is in keeping with his administration's pursuit of peace through a robust demonstration of American strength.
"This isn't a country that's on the other side of the world," Trump said of Venezuela on Jan. 4. "It's in our area. The Donroe Doctrine."
The military operation around Maduro's capture, which the Venezuela governmentsays left 100 people dead,prompted five Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to join Democratsin voting fora Senate resolution this week that attempts to keep Trump "from striking within or against Venezuela" without prior approval from the legislative branch.
Maduro's apprehension followed months of U.S. missiles hitting Venezuelan boats that the Trump administration alleged were bringing drugs to the United States, killing at least 115 people and plunging the administrationinto controversy.
"In the Senate, we Democrats are fighting to prevent military adventurism in Venezuela and other countries and endless wars," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a Jan. 8 news conference.
Trump has said it could take years to solve the problem in Venezuela, Schumer, who represents New York, added. "That is not what Americans want."
Vice President JD Vance responded by saying at a White House news conference that the Trump administration does not believe it is legally required to seek congressional approval.
The administration has pointedly said it offered Maduro multiple off-ramps, which he ignored.
Trump said on Jan. 7 he'dbe seeking a$1.5 trillion budget for the Department of War, which he renamed from the Department of Defense, next year — a more than 50% increase over what Congress appropriated in 2026.
"If there is more muscular behavior, it probably is most likely to take place in Latin America because the 'Donroe Doctrine,' as the president described, is specifically about the U.S. neighborhood and taking care of what is close to home," said Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund.
Sheinbaum said this week that she didn't believe a U.S. invasion of Mexico was likely anddidn't think Trumpwas seriously considering one. Petro called Trump on Jan. 7 and took the temperature down. Trump said afterwards that he would meet with the Colombian presidentin the near futureat the White House.
A snatch and grab of the Colombian president was already viewed as unlikely. Historically, the U.S. has had a strongmilitary partnershipwith and deep economic ties to Colombia, and Petro's term ends in a few months. He's constitutionally barred from competing in the next election.
"That's a situation that may resolve itself politically without a whole lot of effort on our part," said Coates, now a vice president at the Heritage Foundation.
And unlike Venezuela, the vote that brought Petro to power is not in question nor has he been charged by the U.S. government with drug crimes. The United States justified its attack on Caracas by categorizing it as a law enforcement operation against Maduro. The Venezuelan strongman was an illegitimate president, the U.S. says, whose last election victory was widely disputed by international observers. The Justice Departmenthas indicted Maduroon charges of narcotrafficking.
Cuba has been sodependent onVenezuelan oil, which the Trump administration is taking control over, that the regime could now collapse on its own.Trump indicatedand regional experts said that weakening Cuba — which the administration immediately reclassified as a state sponsor of terror following former President Joe Biden'sremoval of the designation just before he left last year— may have been a secondary objective of the strike on Venezuela.
Trump's secretary of state and national security adviser, Rubio, is Cuban American and has long wanted to see a return to democracy on the island, Hernandez-Roy, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, pointed out.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is Greenland next? Trump's 'Donroe Doctrine' hints more military moves
