Monroe Doctrine Gives Way to 'Trump Corollary'

In discussing the US seizure of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, President Trump has resurrected talk about the Monroe Doctrine—the idea espoused by the nation's fifth president in 1823 that Europe should butt out of Latin America. Trump, however, is pushing a more aggressive version, which he referred to as the "Donroe doctrine" while speaking to reporters on Sunday.

• "The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal," said Trump. "But we've superseded it by a lot, a real lot."
• As an analysis at the New York Times explains, his administration did, in fact, beef up the doctrine in the National Security Strategy document released two months ago. It speaks of a need to "restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere," and to prevent "non-Hemispheric competitors" such as China from staking a claim to assets such as oil. "In other words, we will assert and enforce a 'Trump Corollary' to the Monroe Doctrine," the document states.

• At the Wall Street Journal, Greg Ip wonders about the precedent involved. "In re-establishing the Western Hemisphere as the U.S.'s sole sphere of influence, is Trump OK with China doing the same in Taiwan and, more broadly, Asia; or Russia in Ukraine and its other neighbors? Officially, no; yet Trump's tone toward both is notably friendlier now than in his first term."
• When Monroe voiced his doctrine, it was mostly over a worry about European powers interfering in the affairs of their former colonies in Latin America. President Teddy Roosevelt later expanded it to justify military interventions, notes the Hill. Trump is further expanding it by asserting that he "can claim resources (oil) that, in his view, America cannot live without," according to the Times analysis.
• Trump's actions mark quite a turnaround from the Obama administration. Back in 2013, then-Secretary of State John Kerry declared, "The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over," as this Wall Street Journal story from the time reports. The story includes this context: "By giving more leeway to big regional players such as Colombia and Brazil, and not getting too worked up about the anti-American antics of strongmen in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, the administration has tried to put U.S.-Latin American relations on a new footing."