President Trump Can Make the Americas Great Again
Chairman French Hill (AR-02)
January 26, 2026
At the start of his second term, President Trump inherited an America in retreat across the globe and in our own hemisphere. He faced a similar challenge during his first term. At the time, I, among others, successfully advocated a return to the Monroe Doctrine as the cornerstone for U.S. policy. President Trump can now cement his legacy in Latin America by recommitting to this foundational principle of U.S. foreign policy leadership.
For two centuries, President Monroe’s commitment to shielding the Western Hemisphere from external powers has served the United States and the region well, though faith in the Monroe Doctrine showed signs of waning in recent years. President Reagan contained the expansion of communism in the region and contributed to the end of the Cold War while Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush used it to promote hemisphere-wide expansion of trade and security. Together, this presidential leadership led to greater peace, prosperity, and democracy on our side of the globe. By contrast, President Obama’s approach to Latin America allowed despots, criminals, and terrorists to thrive and fester while U.S. policy overlooked the needs of average citizens throughout the hemisphere. In fact, President Obama’s secretary of state, John Kerry, declared, “The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over.”
Sadly but not surprisingly, President Biden repeated this pattern. For my constituents in Arkansas, this approach had dire repercussions: Unprecedented levels of illegal migrants entered our nation, and Americans suffered record-breaking numbers of fentanyl overdose deaths. South of our border, the consequences were equally significant: Rising illegal immigration into Mexico, growing cartel violence, and empowered autocrats and drug smugglers are all poisonous fruits of this policy. Under Biden’s watch, China and other external powers worked to entrench themselves in the hemisphere with the siren song of debt and crony capitalism.
Just as President Trump picked up the pieces from President Obama’s Latin America policy, he has moved quickly to reassert U.S. regional leadership in his second term. The administration has sought to isolate dictators in Cuba. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s first foreign trip was to Argentina, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the first native Spanish speaker to hold that position, has been tasked by President Trump with recharging U.S. partnerships across Latin America.
The president’s successful extradition of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on drug-trafficking charges is evidence of a modern resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine. By his actions, President Trump is making America’s leadership clear and solidifying regional prosperity. Maduro’s capture sends a clear message across the region: The United States remains the preeminent power and will respond decisively to illegal actions or military threats. Maduro was a full partner in crime with China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran, and following Maduro’s capture, Secretary Rubio put those allies on warning: “Don’t play games.”
Further, President Trump delivered on his key campaign promise of securing the southwest border. His success will stabilize irregular migration and human trafficking throughout the region as the United States ceases to be an easy destination. The president has designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and worked with Mexico to ramp up enforcement. Likewise, he has worked to curtail Chinese shipments of fentanyl through Mexico and deployed military assets to the Caribbean to clamp down on drug-smuggling. These efforts, coupled with the additional powers afforded by the terrorist designation, will begin to turn the tide and produce lasting downstream benefits for our South and Central American partners, which are overrun by these transnational criminal organizations.
Given the region’s importance, I directed that Latin America be my first House Financial Services Committee trip abroad after assuming the chairmanship in 2025, and I led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru last year. Recently, I joined House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford in Honduras to observe their national elections; Hondurans embraced a new president supportive of U.S. regional goals, including rejecting China’s coercion.
As we visited with leaders in each partner nation, China’s substantial and growing influence was a driving concern of ours. Beijing’s model is simple: Gain a foothold in the region and work to undermine the United States and our trade, economic, and security relationships built over the decades under the Monroe Doctrine. This strategy poses a direct challenge to the U.S.’s long-standing geopolitical dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Our relationships with our southern neighbors cut across every dimension. Successfully competing with China will require continuous effort across the board. Nowhere is this more evident than on trade and investment, topics the Financial Services Committee closely monitors. Unlike the colonial powers of old, China’s “new colonialism” in our hemisphere is marked by debt-trap diplomacy, rapacious mining dominance, espionage, and corruption.
Under Presidents Obama and Biden, China’s economic clout in the Western Hemisphere grew rapidly. To respond, Washington and the U.S. private sector must commit to a sustained focus that ensures that Latin America is a destination of choice for our foreign direct investment, development assistance, and technical know-how. With help from Congress, the Trump administration can leverage the Development Finance Corporation and the Inter-American Development Bank to signal their commitment and channel private capital to the region. Meanwhile, skillful use of the Export-Import Bank and the Trade and Development Agency would benefit U.S. exporters, draw the attention of American business, and strengthen commercial ties.
Fortunately, our meetings made clear that the region and its leaders are hungry for U.S. partnership and engagement. This recharging of engagement includes enhancing cooperation on national security priorities, migration, and drug enforcement, as well as expanded trade and investment.
At its core, President Trump’s America First agenda is a modern pillar of the Monroe Doctrine, and it should have positive impacts throughout the Western Hemisphere. After all, challenges here at home are often inextricably linked to tackling those in our backyard. Meanwhile, conscious efforts on nearshoring and supply chain diversification could bring manufacturing, economic growth, and investment to the Americas — thereby making America First into Americas First. As Treasury Secretary Bessent put it at the spring International Monetary Fund/World Bank annual meeting, “America First does not mean America alone.”
President Trump has an opportunity to rebuild U.S. leadership in our backyard. A comprehensive approach will cement his legacy, U.S. leadership, and regional strength. It’s time to make the Americas great again.
t the start of his second term, President Trump inherited an America in retreat across the globe and in our own hemisphere. He faced a similar challenge during his first term. At the time, I, among others, successfullyadvocated a return to the Monroe Doctrine as the cornerstone for U.S. policy. President Trump can now cement his legacy in Latin America by recommitting to this foundational principle of U.S. foreign policy leadership.
t the start of his second term, President Trump inherited an America in retreat across the globe and in our own hemisphere. He faced a similar challenge during his first term. At the time, I, among others, successfullyadvocated a return to the Monroe Doctrine as the cornerstone for U.S. policy. President Trump can now cement his legacy in Latin America by recommitting to this foundational principle of U.S. foreign policy leadership.
t the start of his second term, President Trump inherited an America in retreat across the globe and in our own hemisphere. He faced a similar challenge during his first term. At the time, I, among others, successfullyadvocated a return to the Monroe Doctrine as the cornerstone for U.S. policy. President Trump can now cement his legacy in Latin America by recommitting to this foundational principle of U.S. foreign policy leadership.
