WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s White House released a new Trump National Security Strategy Thursday that puts the Western Hemisphere at the center of U.S. security planning and rolls out a hardline “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine. The strategy says curbing migration flows, weakening cartels and shutting out rival powers are essential to protecting the U.S. homeland, Dec. 4, 2025.
The Trump National Security Strategy, dated November 2025, is a terse, 33-page blueprint that calls for restoring U.S. “preeminence” in the region. In the National Security Strategy document, the White House says it will “deny non-Hemispheric competitors” the ability to “own or control strategically vital assets” in the Americas.
What the Trump National Security Strategy says about the “Trump Corollary”
In the Western Hemisphere chapter, the Trump National Security Strategy outlines an “Enlist and Expand” approach: enlist regional partners to control migration and drug flows while expanding U.S. access to “strategically important locations” and tightening scrutiny of ports, infrastructure and supply chains. It calls for a “readjustment” of U.S. forces toward threats “in our Hemisphere,” paired with more Coast Guard and Navy operations to control sea lanes and key transit routes.
On cartels, the Trump National Security Strategy argues the last several decades of a “law enforcement-only” strategy have fallen short. It calls for “targeted deployments” to secure the border and “defeat cartels,” including “where necessary the use of lethal force,” language that has drawn scrutiny from regional leaders and U.S. critics alike.
From doctrine to enforcement: migration pressure and cartel designations
Several actions this year track with the strategy’s themes. The administration has designated eight Latin American crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations, a rare use of a terrorism label against financially driven networks. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico would not accept “extraterritorial actions” tied to the decree, while urging deeper joint investigations into money laundering and U.S.-based drug sales.
At the U.N. this month, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz told the Security Council that “the single most serious threat to this hemisphere” comes from “transnational terrorist and criminal groups,” as Washington pledged tougher sanctions and enforcement aimed at Venezuela and the alleged Cartel de los Soles, according to a Reuters report.
Analysts are divided on the “Trump Corollary” framing. A Brookings analysis said the document elevates the hemisphere by naming migration, drugs and crime, and China as the core threats it wants partners to confront. Critics warn that a corollary-style doctrine could inflame anti-U.S. sentiment and complicate cooperation, even as supporters argue the focus reflects security and political pressures closer to home.
The strategy’s hard turn toward the hemisphere also has precedents. Trump’s first-term 2017 National Security Strategy placed greater emphasis on global competition, especially with China and Russia. The corollary language echoes the historical Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which justified U.S. intervention as a means of regional stability in the early 20th century.
And even before the latest Trump National Security Strategy, Trump used economic pressure tied to border enforcement: in 2019, he threatened tariffs on Mexico as part of an effort to push tougher migration controls. The next test will be whether the 2025 document produces sustained regional cooperation, or sharper resistance, as the administration seeks to turn a doctrine into day-to-day policy.
