Trump Invokes Monroe Doctrine in Justifying Maduro's Arrest

"...Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”..."

"...Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,..."

"...Trump said that Venezuela, under Maduro’s rule, had been “increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests.”..."

"...Trump called those actions “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries.”..."

"...But, Trump added, “under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”..."

"...“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said...."

"...“We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”..."

"...Asked Saturday how the U.S. running a country represented his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the move as one that, similarly to the Monroe Doctrine’s origin story, was aimed at strengthening America itself...."

"...The administration’s national security strategy references “a ‘ Trump Corollary ’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” intended to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.”..."

"...“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again, won’t happen,” Trump said...."

"...“For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”..."

"...“What presidents used to do is they would cloak whatever their agenda was in the Monroe Doctrine by issuing corollaries,” Sexton said...."

"...After World War II, Sexton said, rather than devising corollaries to the Monroe Doctrine, presidents started issuing their own, citing Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon...."

"...He Sexton said he assumed Trump might take similar action...."

"...“When you’re talking about a Trump Corollary, I just knew Trump wouldn’t want to be a corollary to another president’s doctrine, that somehow this would evolve into a Trump doctrine,” he said...."

"...The national security strategy released by the White House in December portrayed European allies as weak and aimed to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere...."

"...Laying out a series of military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean as “a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine” to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere,” the document said it aimed to combat the flow of narcotics and control migration...."

"...The strategy marked a reimagining of the U.S. military footprint in the region even after building up the largest military presence there in generations...."

"...Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and a possible protracted U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to the one after the administration’s strikes last year on Iran’s nuclear facilities...."

"...“This is not just the sort of hit-and-run kind of job where, like in Iran a couple months ago, we dropped the missiles, and then you can then you can go on and carry on as normal,” Sexton said...."

"...“This is going to be potentially quite a mess and contradict the administration’s policies on withdrawing from forever wars — and there’s a lot of isolationists, within the MAGA coalition.”..."