Overview
- Trump first invoked the phrase while unveiling Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. action that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
- In a subsequent Fox News interview, he said others coined the term and emphasized regional “safety” as his guiding principle.
- The 2025 National Security Strategy details a Trump Corollary that reasserts U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere and seeks to block external power footholds.
- Officials continue to frame the Caracas operation as a counter‑drug effort tied to securing strategic energy resources, particularly Venezuelan oil.
- Opponents warn of neo‑imperial overreach and sovereignty violations, while supporters argue the posture counters Chinese and Russian influence and protects assets from Cuba to the Arctic.